Dear Editor:
Mayor Bret Schundler’s proposed high-priced private waterpark in Liberty State Park barely scratches the surface of money-making possibilities in LSP for potential campaign contributors.
The waterpark, which would charge admissions out of the reach of most Jersey City residents, is of course a total violation of the spirit of any public park. Parks are intended to be publicly financed spaces for people to find their way back to the natural world, restoring an increasingly urban society’s frayed serenity. Our culture has plenty of noisy, expensive, commercial enterprises. Parks are not the place for more.
But since the mayor has introduced the idea, here are some possible for-profit ventures he may yet have in store for us in LSP:
Bungee-jumping from the old railroad terminal. The spire atop the terminal is a natural for this pastime, a favorite of the hot youth market.
Pave the park’s interior for commercial parking. The mayor allowed developer Peter Mocco to do this without a permit on the northside of the Morris Canal Basin, so there are obviously no administrative problems.
Water skiing and jet skis on the Morris Canal. This would be tricky, since the park side of the canal is now glutted with customers of a private marina, but where there’s a will there’s a way.
T-shirt sales. Vendors could sell shirts featuring the smiling faces of the waterfront developers printed above the dollar amounts of taxes their abatements shift to Jersey City homeowners.
Ads on the Statue of Liberty. The Statue is clearly visible to park-goers, and with his far-flung political interests the mayor could surely arrange for it to generate revenue.
Park development guru and erstwhile golf champion Peter Ylvisacker shudders when people leave LSP without spending money. Poor public transportation already bars many who don’t have a lot to spend, but some of us still come for the sea and the sky, the birds and the trees, the stillness in which a touch of the eternal may be revealed.
Our mayor, though, has plans. Watch for ads on the moon next.
Dan North