Dear Editor:
Along with about 60 Hoboken residents, on a recent Monday night (Jan. 23) I attended a meeting at City Hall hosted by Mayor Zimmer to seek public input on the final conceptual designs for a brand new waterfront park at Weehawken Cove and new athletic fields at 1600 Park.
The meeting reflected government at its best. Professionals hired by the city, in particular, landscape architect John Imbiano, walked through the blueprints for the audience, and thoughtfully discussed the various features in the park, reflecting real creativity, thought and input from the stakeholders incorporated into the park’s design. For more than one hour, members of the public asked questions of the Mayor, Director Forbes, Director Pelligrini, and the Design and Engineering Professionals, and then had an opportunity to speak one-on-one with the city officials and professionals who remained after the question and answer period concluded. We learned that when this exciting new park is completed, it will include a boathouse, an ampitheater overlooking the waterfront, public lawns, landscaped grounds, shade trees, as well as a regulation soccer field and other athletic facilities, and public amenities.
Representatives of the Hoboken Cove Community Boathouse and representatives of the Fund for a Better Waterfront, as well as other community stakeholders, were present and spoke affirmatively about their active engagement with the Zimmer administration in the design process and working with the City’s professionals to build a new park for our Northern waterfront that will last for generations.
It’s great to see our City government working for us to build something beautiful, lasting and important on our Northern waterfront for all our residents to enjoy.
Phil Cohen