Dear Editor:
When I attended a council meeting recently, I was distressed to learn that the Recreation Association that Ward C Councilman Steve Lipski has founded is campaigning for playing fields in Reservoir 3.
I was upset when I learned that the current administration has kept the JC Reservoir Preservation Alliance, the same group who has worked so hard to keep the reservoir clean and safe, out of Reservoir 3. Last year, many Jersey City residents and visitors from neighboring Hoboken, Union City and North Bergen, enjoyed kayaking, hiking and fishing last year right into early fall. The visitors were all ages, races, ethnic groups. Is the City planning to deprive them of these pleasures this year?
People do not need a car to visit Reservoir 3. They do not even have to live in the Heights. It is accessible by the #83, #87, #88, #125, 99S commuter vans (and, when it is running), the Central Avenue Bus.
I know all this because I was born and bred in the Heights. I grew up and spent most of my life on Ward D’s Western Slope. A few years ago, I moved to the eastern tip of the Heights and now reside in Steve Lipski’s district.
As far back as I could remember, I have loved the outdoors. However, without a car, it is hard to get close to nature. I do bike to Liberty State Park but many people don’t have even that option and must take a PATH train or bus to the Light Rail and then a shuttle bus to the park proper.
I realize that open space for recreational areas is needed. What I don’t understand is why people insist that it must be here. Most of the Reservoir’s 13 acres consists of a large pond. Where exactly would playing fields be put?
Let’s be creative, folks. Aren’t there going to be fields on the school built over Reservoir 2? What about the vacant buildings and lots all over the Heights, particularly east of Central Avenue? If Bill Gaughan could convert a former bank to a recreational center for kids, shouldn’t we be taking a closer look at these options? How about talking to the Archdiocese of Newark about all those empty Catholic schools?
What about Lincoln Park? Just south of Journal Square, it would provide easy access for many, if not all of Jersey City’s districts. It is huge, stretching from Kennedy Blvd. to 440, and it is expanding.
It is a shame that we have just one soccer field for all the children in Jersey City and that the Washington Baseball League at the northern tip of the Heights is begging for money. If our officials are able to consider giving the Caven Point soccer field over to the New Jersey – oops York – Jets for practice, can’t they do better for Jersey City than pit one group against the other over one square block? If we can find space for the Jets to practice on, surely we can do better for our young athletes and nature lovers of all ages? Linda D’Esposito