Dear Editor:
Leonard Gordon Park (aka “Mosquito Park”) may be the most rundown, neglected major community park in Jersey City. The Friends of Leonard Gordon Park, and the community, have worked hard, over the last three years, to make some economical improvements to the park by designing a highly creative children’s playground that we had re-located to a safer, more visible, location than the former vandalized playground it replaced, Additionally, a temporary dog run was also fashioned out of the old playground area. Thanks to so many volunteer gardeners, some very colorful community gardens have mesmerized and inspired residents mostly along the eastern border of the park along Kennedy Boulevard. The gardens continue to display spring, summer and fall blooms at the park entrances and around and behind the new playground. Happily, these efforts have been recognized by Jersey City.
We are very pleased to announce that Jersey City has committed $700,000 for improvements to the hilly, historic park in the Heights for this year 2015; $500,000 is planned for 2016, and then $1.2 million for 2017. If the giant bison and bear statues within Leonard Gordon Park could, they would be smiling about now. Please help rescue our great, but injured, animal friends – and their surrounding environment – by joining us at a public meeting on Friday, January 30th at Nicholas Copernicus School at 6 p.m.
At that time, FoLGP will lead the first of 2 organizational meeting to discuss and prepare for the Park Master Plan process we will be conducting in collaboration with the City of Jersey City beginning this summer. Towards this end; we will be creating committees where residents can volunteer to help restore the park to a relaxing, playful place of beauty; consistent with the original design, and to conduct a thorough, democratic, and creative LGP Master Plan process. At this meeting and a second one two months later, we will also seek public input on 2015’s park expenditures…in particular on existing structures and elements that need renovation.
We need help and public input regarding the restoration of the gazebo, park pathways, benches, lighting and the animal sculptures. We also need committees to help re-create and install the stolen bronze eagle that once adorned the Sipnick World War II memorial. Other committees will focus on improving the existing dog run, and on helping design a future larger dog run, and also to explore and design a children’s spray park near the new playground.
Finally, we need the talents of our community to help with fundraising, grant writing, legal advice, event planning, corporate relations, web site development and public outreach, as well as help photographing and videotaping the growing beauty and transformation of our neighborhood park.
Please be sure to join us on Friday, January 30th at 6 p.m. at Nicholas Copernicus School, Kennedy Boulevard between Griffith and Zabriskie Streets, for this important meeting. Visit our website at www.FolGP.org. For questions: call (917) 841-1322.
Thank you,
Clifford Waldman, Ph.D.,
FoLGP, President