Dear Editor:
Jersey City has been through some hard economic times especially during the 1960’s and 1970’s. Blue-collar businesses were folding. Yet this was the time that the public backed activist Morris Pesin in his fight to create Liberty State Park. The public did not ask for an industrial park but a free open-space park for the most crowded state in the nation.
The public approved of the sale for a nominal fee of 150 acres to the State of New Jersey for Liberty State Park. Jersey City lost the right to make that land into a tax ratable. However, Mayor Schundler in his quest to take public assets for private profits, now wants to create a commercial waterpark on public lands.
This is outrageous, considering he failed to maintain the city’s public swimming pools. There was no excuse for the closing of the municipal pools since the city received “recreation funds” linked with abatements.
Mayor Schundler also failed to have public input concerning the car pound being transferred as a “sport complex.” It was always the intent of transferring land not being used by the city to the state for Liberty State Park. Now five million visitors are planning to visit this sport complex in addition to the millions who will visit the proposed waterpark.
Jersey City will not receive any revenue but must supply public resources (police, emergency services); this is not fair considering there are not enough public personnel.
Schundler’s idea for commercialization of Liberty State Park is not what the public wants.
Yvonne Balcer