West New York is a town in the northern part of Hudson County, New Jersey, occupying a narrow strip of the New Jersey Palisades that rises sharply above the Hudson River. Across the water lies Manhattan, and the town's elevated position gives many of its streets — particularly Boulevard East — uninterrupted views of the New York City skyline. This geography has shaped almost everything about West New York: its density, its housing form, and its role as a residential community for people who work across the river. The town's modern identity was forged in the mid-twentieth century. After World War II, many longtime residents moved to the suburbs, opening up housing for new arrivals, and in the 1960s West New York received a large influx of Cuban émigrés. The community grew so prominent that the town, along with neighboring Union City, became known as "Havana on the Hudson." That heritage remains central today; West New York has a majority Hispanic population, and its commercial corridors and restaurants reflect a strong Latin American and Cuban influence layered over earlier waves of Dutch, German, Italian, and Jewish settlement. West New York is among the most densely populated municipalities in the country, a distinction it shares with nearby Guttenberg and Union City along the Palisades. Its built environment is correspondingly vertical and compact: high-rise apartment buildings cluster along Boulevard East, while older one- and two-family homes, many faced with locally quarried bluestone, line the side streets. This density supports walkable blocks, frequent transit, and a concentration of small businesses that make daily errands possible without a car — a rarity in much of suburban New Jersey and a key part of the town's appeal.