Seventh Avenue, Newark

[3] Joe DiMaggio loved the restaurants of Seventh Avenue so much that he would take the New York Yankees to Newark to show them "real Italian food."

Frankie Valli of the Four Seasons and Congressman Peter Rodino, Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee during its impeachment proceedings against Richard Nixon, were natives of the First Ward.

[5] Beginning in 1953,[6] the working class and poor Italian-American Seventh Avenue neighborhood was subjected to urban renewal efforts.

Eighth Avenue was removed, scattering its Italian-American residents to make way for the construction of the Christopher Columbus Homes housing project and Interstate 280.

The area experienced one of the highest crime rates in the city during the 1970s and suffered major destruction from arson fires.