Oak Tree Road is a predominantly South Asian shopping, business, and dining district centered on a road designated County Route 604 in Middlesex County, in Central New Jersey.^[1] The district, which has been called "Little India",^[2] is set amidst a suburban residential area that is home to many South Asian families.^[3][4]

Location

Oak Tree Road runs for about one-and-a-half miles through Edison and neighboring Iselin, a section of Woodbridge Township.^[5][6] The epicenter of Little India retail is traditionally on the two-block stretch of Oak Tree Road between Correja Avenue and Middlesex Avenue in Iselin, an area officially known as India Square; there, as of 2017, rents were roughly double over the rest of the strip.^[7] The intersection of Wood Avenue and Oak Tree Road is where the two towns meet.^[8][9] Some have lamented the "stroad" status of parts of the western portion of the strip as inhibiting ideal walkability from establishment to establishment, and have advocated for improved sidewalks.^[10]

Middlesex, in Central Jersey, is the U.S. county with the highest concentration of Indian Americans.^[11][12][13] This area is the largest and most diverse South Asian ethnic enclave and cultural hub in the United States.^[14][15] According to the 2017 American Community Survey, 42.6% of Iselin residents identified themselves as being Asian Indian, the highest for any census-designated place in the United States.^[16]

Culture, cuisine, and commerce

Saravana Bhavan restaurant off Oak Tree Road in Edison

Oak Tree Road in Edison and Iselin is home to over 400 South Asian business establishments, including dining, halal grocery, jewelry, apparel and electronics retailing, and entertainment.^{[17][18][19][20]} Many come to the area for its traditional gold and Maharashtrian jewelry retailers.^[7] Indian-American supermarket chain Patel Brothers has a location on the strip.^[21]

Over 145 Indian restaurants alone are found in the neighborhood.^[22][23] Establishments have appeared on food critics' "best of South Asian cuisine" national and regional lists.^[24][25][26] The district is also known as a destination for Indo-Chinese cuisine.^[27] They range from vegetarian to non-vegetarian, South Indian to North Indian, and sweet to spicy.^[28] One food and entertainment critic has named the "atmospheric" Little India as one of the "50 Best Reasons to Live in New Jersey".^[29]

The actor-comedian Omi Vaidya celebrated the Oak Tree Road scene and South Asian culture in his 2020 song "Oak Tree Road," a parody of Old Town Road.^[30][31]

In 2023, Tanishq, the luxury Indian jewelry brand, opened its U.S. flagship store on Oak Tree Road.^[32]

History

1777 map of the area where the Oak Tree Engagement took place. The greater battle occurred overall at points between "Metuchin" and Westfield. "Spanktown" is modern-day Rahway.

Oak Tree Road has a long history in commerce. It is named for a large oak tree which stood at a crossroads where a market was located during the Revolutionary War era.^[33][34] This crossroads and surrounding area was the site of the Oak Tree Engagement during the Battle of the Short Hills.^[35][33][36] It was a relatively rural area in the early to mid 20th century.^[37][38][39]

In the early 1990s, prior to the arrival of significant Indian investment, Oak Tree Road was a down-on-its-luck strip of biker bars and abandoned buildings.^[15] Some late-1980s-era economic pioneers to the then-rundown strip experienced racism from the locals, which largely subsided by the early 1990s.^[7] The first Navratri festival in the state of New Jersey was held in the area in 1991.^[40] As Indian businesses began arriving in the 1990s en masse, the area transformed over time into the "thriving market full of pedestrian traffic on weekends" seen today.^[7]

By 2022, the Indian population was approaching one-third of the population of Monroe Township in southern Middlesex County, and the nickname Edison-South had developed, in reference to the Little India stature of both townships in Middlesex County.^[41]

Festivals and events

A blend of South Asian religious festivals and cultural events are held in the Oak Tree Road district in Edison and Iselin, each featuring a melting pot of visitors and celebrants of all religions and backgrounds.^[42]

Houses of worship

A variety of Hindu temples have been established along the strip, alongside diverse Christian, Jewish, and Muslim congregations in the greater area. Shirdi Sai Cultural and Community Center is one such temple. Located on the Iselin side of the district, it is devoted to the 19th century Indian saint Sai Baba of Shirdi.^[74]

See also

• Chinese community of Edison, NJ
• Curry Hill in Midtown Manhattan
• Curry Row in Lower Manhattan
• Ethnoburb
• List of neighborhoods in Edison, New Jersey
• List of neighborhoods in Woodbridge Township, New Jersey
• List of county routes in Middlesex County, New Jersey
• India Independence Day Parade
• Indians in the New York City metropolitan region
• India Square in Jersey City, New Jersey
• The Dotbusters, an anti-Indian violent hate group in 1980s and early 1990s Jersey City, New Jersey.
• Overseas Indians
• Swaminarayan Akshardham in Robbinsville, New Jersey (the world’s second-largest Hindu temple and the largest outside Asia).

References

40°34′26″N 74°19′35″W / 40.57393°N 74.32642°W / 40.57393; -74.32642