Dear Editor:
Two hundred and twenty acres of land within Liberty State Park remain off-limits to the public because of a need for environmental remediation. The State is accepting recommendations about how this acreage should be redeveloped once it is cleaned.
One option is that all 220 acres be left as natural area with a few walking paths traversing it. A second option is that 200 plus acres be kept as natural area with the remaining acres turning into a Great Lawn where unorganized sports like touch football or frisbee can be enjoyed. A third option is that 200 acres be kept as natural area but that 20 acres (a mere percentage of Liberty State Park’s total land area) be set aside for more active recreation.
I support this third option. On land immediately adjacent to the Cunningham Graphics facility at Liberty Industrial Park, I would like to see a landscaped barrier constructed that separates the parkland from the industrial park. Inside of that barrier, I would like to see a new swimming pool constructed so that Jersey City residents can cool off and then go for a walk through the natural areas of Liberty State Park. I would like to see a new Camp Liberty constructed where local children could enjoy a day recreating actively in a beautiful outdoor setting. I would like to see a children’s science farm constructed where our urban school children can learn about how food is grown and pet a lamb without having to travel to Hunterdon County for that experience. All of this can be accomplished on a mere 20 acres of land, leaving 200 acres to be redeveloped as additional natural area.
I opposed a golf course going into Liberty State Park because I believed that we should permit diverse activities to be enjoyed at the Park. For the same reason, I do not believe that all 220 remaining acres of Liberty State Park should be developed as natural area alone, with only a fallow lawn or two for unorganized play. I think we need more places in Jersey City for parents to take their children to have fun together, and in my opinion, 200 additional acres of natural area and walking trails would be plenty.
I don’t have estimates for how much it would cost to build a swimming pool, a camp and a children’s science farm, nor do I have exact architectural renderings and traffic studies. We are at way too early a conceptual state in the planning process to have any of that detail work completed. But I think these improvements can be easily afforded, and I don’t think they would create any negative traffic impacts.
Audrey Zapp has attacked my proposal as “honky tonk” but I don’t think that the small wildlife center in the heart of Nee York City’s Central park detracts from the Park’s aesthetics, and neither does Wollman Rink. I think they add a lot to Central Park, as well as to the liveability of New York City for families with children.
I respect that Audrey Zapp and Sam Pesin’s father, Morris, deserve credit for fighting to get the State to build Liberty State Park. I also respect their right to support the 100 percent natural space options, or the second option, allowing for some lawn space. But I believe that I too have right, not just as Mayor, but as a Jersey City resident and as a concerned father, to support the third option of setting aside 20 acres for active, family-oriented recreation.
Liberty State Park belongs to all of the people of Jersey City and of New Jersey. We have a right to have a different version for it than Audrey and Sam. They should not attack me and others personally just because we disagree with what they want.
Bret Schundler
Mayor