A319
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Communication Breakdown; Situational Awareness
ATC Issue All Types; Conflict NMAC
Flight Crew Took Evasive Action
Human Factors; Procedure
On initial climbout on the Newark 4 departure; Captain checked in with TRACON. ATC acknowledged our check in; and shortly after called traffic off our nose out of turn as we were rolling out heading west. I was hand flying the departure climbing through 2;500 feet. MSL for 3;000 feet. MSL when I surprisingly heard 'Don't Climb! Don't Climb.' During this RA; we were in the process of finishing up our after takeoff clean up configuration and call outs when I saw the VSI (Vertical Speed Indicator) turn red from just below level to above; and green below. I followed SOP: Auto Pilot Off (already off); Flight Dir Off; Avoid the Red; Go to the Green!I instantly lowered the nose; banked left; and saw a Cessna out of the corner of my eye circle over top of us (estimated 500 feet above at my 2 O'Clock) banking through east in a turn back towards Teterboro Airport. Since we were in the process of cleaning up the aircraft; and to avoid drastically overspeeding the aircraft in 'Climb Power' I pulled the throttles to idle; disengaging the auto thrust to manually manipulate all control and power of the aircraft to avoid the conflict. The Captain did a great job backing me up with speed and altitude call outs; helped get me get back in the green from this surprise RA; and communicated the RA with ATC (Air Traffic Control).Once we heard 'Clear of Contact' we took a couple of deep breaths; were assigned a climb to 8;000 feet; reengaged the autopilot; autothrust; finished the after takeoff checklist; climbed up; and had an uneventful remainder of the flight. I remember the controller asking us if we had visual; I said yes; but not until after I was taking action. Not sure why this event occurred. Another light civil aircraft ventured into the path of this departure. I was surprised this conflicting traffic was a close as it was when we were told about it; and surprised that we were cleared for takeoff and given clearance to fly a SID if ATC saw this conflicting traffic flying towards or in the vicinity of our departure route.Better communication between Local and TRACON Controllers to better separate aircraft in high volume traffic airspace.
A319 flight crew reported receiving SID clearance with traffic above; resulting in an NMAC.