Dear Editor:
The second All Points West Music and Arts Festival held from July 31 through August 2 at Liberty State Park was a very positive event for Liberty State Park and also Jersey City. It is upsetting for everyone who cares about LSP that the spring and summer rains and the six inches of rain in the week of the festival led to the temporary damage to the lawn between Liberty Walk and Freedom Way. However, I have full faith that the grass will be fully restored just as the lawn came back to normal after past droughts.
The producers, Liberty Event Management (LEM), based for years at the park’s marina, and Highline Ballroom of NYC (which includes BB Kings and Blue Note clubs) with their national partner, AEG Live, have a contractual responsibility to leave the park at least as good as they found it; and they also feel a professional obligation and ethical commitment to LSP to act with high standards.
APW brought positive national attention to LSP and Jersey City with a festival featuring famous and up and coming bands for the enjoyment of young music lovers from our region (and many other states) and exposed thousands of new people to LSP, and I feel that many will come back to the park with their family and friends.
The Friends have supported this event because it brings favorable attention to our special waterfront urban park on the Jersey City waterfront, because there is a heavy emphasis on mass transit with ferries and light rail use by the majority of attendees, and because it is a part-fundraiser for LSP itself and for The Friends of LSP. The Friends, an all volunteer group has worked hard to carry out our mission for our 21 years of preserving, protecting, conserving and promoting LSP.
Last year, we funded tens of thousands of dollars of trees and flowers and are saving funds for park amenities. Friends gardening volunteers last year contributed $1 million in volunteer time. For garden volunteering on Saturdays from 8 to 11 am, please call Maria at (201) 915-3418 or -3403 on Saturdays or email her at gardening@libertystatepark.us
The park is for the public’s enjoyment of recreation, nature, history and culture and we will be forever vigilant in preventing exploitation and abuse of our beloved park. Another worthwhile feature of APW is LEM’s facilitating a friends “environmental village” for outreach to festival goers with about eight statewide groups and also with Jersey City’s Art House Productions and Liberty Science Center.
APW was an uplifting cultural event for those attending despite the mud and didn’t negatively impact nearby neighborhoods. I hope everyone comes out to use our urban waterfront park in the coming months and years. God bless LSP !
Sam Pesin,
President of The Friends of LSP