Dear Editor:
Thanks to Amanda Palasciano for writing and to The Hoboken Reporter for publishing last week’s comprehensive, factual story about the perils that lie in the path of completing Hoboken’s continuous public waterfront park along the Hudson.
While the cities north and south of us have settled for the bare minimum, 30-foot walkway required by law and have allowed buildings on piers, in essence privatizing them, the people of Hoboken have demanded more and gotten it.
Walk north from the Erie Lackawanna terminal to Fourth Street along the wonderful esplanade and enjoy the parks on Pier A and Pier C, all the while knowing this is the area where 32-story office towers and a massive condominium complex were to be built over the water with a private marina in between. Enjoy the park at Maxwell Place that was once slated for high-rise condos. All of this is the result of persistent hard work for more than 20 years by many dedicated citizens demanding public park along the entire length of our waterfront.
We are 80 percent of the way there, and Fund for a Better Water front is leading the charge to finish the job.
Shipyard Associates must vacate their plan to build high-rise condos on the pier at 15th street and deliver on their promise of open space.
Jersey Transit must abandon the idea of buying Union Dry Dock and turning it over to New York
Waterways for use as a storage, maintenance and refueling depot for its buses, and a docking, fueling and repair facility for its ferries. And the city must find a way to acquire the site for park.
The proposed state legislation that would allow Stevens Institute of Technology to disregard municipal land use law has to be stopped, and the city must work closely with Stevens to enable it to grow while finding an appropriate public use for what is now a parking lot and maintenance shed on the river side of Sinatra Drive.
The citizens of Hoboken deserve nothing less. Find out more at about the issues and what you can co to help at www.betterwaterfront.org.
James Vance
President
Fund for a Better Waterfront