[22] The borough of Palisades Park was created by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 22, 1899, from portions of Ridgefield Township.

[35][36][37] Morsemere is a neighborhood largely in the northern part of Ridgefield straddling the southern border of Palisades Park.

[38] The town's central business district centered around Broad Avenue has been called Koreatown[39][40][41][42][43] In mid-2015, a proposal was submitted by the Korean-American Association of Palisades Park to the mayor and council to add a second name to Broad Avenue, such as "Korean Market Street" (Meokjagolmok) or "Korea Way".

[44] Until the 1980s, Palisades Park was overwhelmingly Caucasian, a mix of blue-collar workers and professionals whose families originated largely from Italy, Croatia, Germany, and Greece.

A substantial number of affluent and educated Korean American professionals have settled in Bergen County since the early 2000s and have founded various academic and communally supportive organizations, including the Korean Parent Partnership Organization at the Bergen County Academies magnet high school and the Korean-American Association of New Jersey.

Approximately 120 Korean stores were counted in Palisades Park in 2000,[30] a number which has risen significantly since then, featuring restaurants and karaoke (noraebang) bars, grocery markets, education centers and bookstores, financial institutions, offices, electronics vendors, apparel boutiques, and other commercial enterprises.

In May 2012, borough officials rejected requests by two diplomatic delegations from Japan to remove a small monument from a public park, a brass plaque on a block of stone, dedicated in 2010 to the memory of comfort women, tens of thousands of women and girls, many Korean, who were forced into sexual slavery by Japanese soldiers during World War II.

However, in neighboring Fort Lee, various Korean American groups could not reach consensus on the design and wording for such a monument as of early April 2013.

[49][50] In May 2014, the Palisades Park Public Library created a memorial dedicated to the victims of the tragic sinking of the Sewol ferry off the South Korean coast on April 16, 2014.

[20] As of the 2010 Census, 51.5% of the population (10,115) reported themselves as being of Korean ancestry,[20][69] with both the highest Korean-American density and percentage of any municipality in the United States.

This was the highest percentage of Korean Americans of any place in the country with 1,000 or more residents identifying their ancestry and more than double that of second-ranked Cerritos, California.

[78][79] In July 2015 Gina S. Kim became the borough's municipal clerk, reflecting the growing political influence of the Korean American population.

[82] As of 2023[update], the mayor of Palisades Park is Democrat Chong "Paul" Kim, whose term of office ends December 31, 2026.

[83] Members of the Palisades Park Borough Council are Council President Cynthia A. Pirrera (D, 2023), Stephanie S. Jang (R, 2024), Son K. "Andy" Min (D, 2025), Suk Min (D, 2024; appointed to serve an unexpired term), Jae K. Park (R, 2023) and Michael P. Vietri (D, 2025).

[3][84][85][86][87][88][89] After Chong "Paul" Kim took office as mayor in January 2023, the borough council declined to pick from one of the three candidates nominated by the Democratic municipal committee and chose Andy Min to fill the council seat he had held expiring in December 2024, after which the Democratic committee chose Suk Min to fill the seat.

Lorraine Rotundo made the post in response to the massive number of Koreans at the voting booths.

[99][100] For the 119th United States Congress, New Jersey's 5th congressional district is represented by Josh Gottheimer (D, Wyckoff).

As of 2025[update], the county executive is James J. Tedesco III (D, Paramus), whose four-year term of office ends December 31, 2026.

[105] Bergen County's Commissioners are: Thomas J. Sullivan Jr. (D, Montvale, 2025),[106] Chair Germaine M. Ortiz (D, Emerson, 2025),[107] Joan Voss (D, Fort Lee, 2026),[108] Vice Chair Mary J. Amoroso (D, Mahwah, 2025),[109] Rafael Marte (D, Bergenfield, 2026),[110] Steven A. Tanelli (D, North Arlington, 2027)[111] and Tracy Silna Zur (D, Franklin Lakes, 2027).

[112][113][114][115][116][117][118][119] Bergen County's constitutional officials are: Clerk John S. Hogan (D, Northvale, 2026),[120][121] Sheriff Anthony Cureton (D, Englewood, 2027)[122][123] and Surrogate Michael R. Dressler (D, Cresskill, 2026).

[133] Among the borough's 2010 Census population, 32.7% (vs. 57.1% in Bergen County) were registered to vote, including 39.1% of those ages 18 and over (vs. 73.7% countywide).

[139] Palisades Park High School has hosted national Kumdo martial arts tournaments.

[147] Korean cafés have become a major cultural element within Palisades Park, not only for the coffee, bingsu (shaved ice), and pastries, but also as communal gathering places.

Korean is spoken at home by more than half of the residents of Palisades Park and nearby Englewood Cliffs, according to U.S. Census Bureau data released in 2017.

The Palisades Park Public School District serves students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade.