The Reservoir Alliance, and the people of Jersey City, thousands of who have actively supported the Reservoir, are excited that Mayor Jerramiah Healy has announced the city’s decision to preserve the Reservoir's natural and historic treasures as a park.

The Reservoir Alliance looks forward to working with Jersey City on these next steps that must be taken to follow through on its commitment:

• Draft Site Plan - for the Jersey City Parks Master Plan, being developed by T & M Associates. Key design principles to protect and enhance the historic and natural resources of the Reservoir.

• Put all 13 acres of the Reservoir on Jersey City's open space and parks inventory - Protecting it from ill-advised development, and making funding and grants from sources like NJ Green Acres available.

• Programs: Recreation, Nature, Historic, and Educational - Continue partnering of the Alliance with the City's Department of Recreation and the Division of Cultural Affairs, as well as groups like Hoboken Cove Boathouse, and seeking funding for these programs.

• Historic Structures Report - Assessment by qualified experts of the Reservoir's historic structures and fabric, for preservation, restoration, and reuse; using the grant and guidelines from the Hudson County Open Space Trust.

• Environmental Survey - Review the natural features of the Reservoir including lake and wetlands, trees, plants, birds, fish, and animals.

• Formal Site Plan - Development by qualified experts of an incremental plan for the future of the Reservoir, preserving it as a natural retreat from the surrounding city, and as an environmental, historical, educational, and passive recreation resource.

For more information, please visit - Jersey City Reservoir Preservation Alliance

Will the 6th St. Embankment become a park for ALL citizens of Jersey City, or just another tax-abated condo development?

If you think the Embankment is safe from demolition, think again …

What has happened?

• Three city administrations and the city council agreed to support preservation and open space for this historic elevated rail line.

• Our elected officials made the Embankment a municipal landmark and passed legislation to acquire it.

• The current administration led a petition before a federal agency, the Surface Transportation Board (STB), challenging Conrail’s sale to a private developer.

What is happening now?

• The city has no plan for acquisition, even if the STB ruling is favorable.

• The Mayor now wants light rail on the Embankment but has no funding for light rail or for acquiring it for that purpose.

• Meanwhile, the city is turning its back on money already raised ($3.7 million in awards and pledges), and additional available grants because they are designed for open space and greenway – exactly the uses the city previously approved.

What are we going to do about it?

Citizens across the city can save the Embankment and other community parks.

1. Obtain and place a “Make Our Parks” poster in the window of your home to demonstrate city-wide support. To receive a poster, call Suzy at 201-798-6556.

2. Call Mayor Jerramiah Healy’s office at 201547-5200 and ask, “What is the plan to acquire the Embankment?”

3. Go to www.embankment.org to learn more about the Embankment and other ways to help.

CIVIC JC Response to the T&M Recreation Master Plan Proposal

INTRODUCTION

CIVIC JC is a non-partisan, community based 501(C) 4 organization formed to promote good city government. Improving our open space and recreational assets is one of our priority initiatives.

Many of our Board members and subscribers have considerable experience and expertise with open space and recreation issues. In this report we hope to provide a broad perspective on how the T&M Proposal coincides with the current state of parks and open space in Jersey City and with the current needs and desires of its citizens. Mayor Healy said recently in specific regard to preserving Reservoir #3 as natural open space that his thinking has undergone an “evolutionary process.” We are glad that in this case at least evolution still moves forward. We also understand the T&M Proposal to be a plan in continuing evolution and that once adopted that implementation will also evolve. In this document we praise and reinforce a number of ideas contained in the Plan, and ask for reconsideration and more emphasis for those that are underrepresented or missing.

OVERVIEW

Major Strengths of Plan

The T&M plan documents the severe deficit in open space in Jersey City, comparing our land use to land use standards. The deficit has long been known, but this plan brings focus to the problem.

The T&M plan, for the first time, extensively documents the open space that the City owns and describes current conditions. This is an important foundation for decision-making regarding park improvements.

The T&M plan also lists six priority acquisitions for the City.

The T&M plan recognizes the strengths that citizen organizations bring to the parks. In this regard T&M has shown itself to be receptive to requests for changes in the draft plan from park associations and neighborhood groups.

Major Weaknesses of Plan

The plan’s title (formerly referred to as Parks Master Plan or Parks and Open Space Master Plan, or Parks and Recreation Plan) is now Recreation Master Plan. The history reflects a confused mandate given the consultants. The current title suggests a politicization of the process, specifically in suggesting pressure to emphasize recreational use at the expense of passive use and open space acquisition.

While the plan begins appropriately by documenting the severe deficit in open space by any standard, the plan then focuses almost exclusively on current open space. This failure to address the deficit seriously undoubtedly reflects a political culture emphasizing development over other human needs. The T&M plan should be revised to put more emphasis on acquisition, which in this time of rapid re-development, cannot be postponed.

The plan also emphasizes active over passive open space. This emphasis does not adequately recognize the diverse needs of the people who use city parks—not only students who need playing fields for organized sports, but young people who do not participate in such sports, seniors who need quiet sanctuaries for walking, resting, and low-key activities, and nature lovers of all ages.

In its emphasis on active sports, the plan calls for much paving over of open space in current city-owned parks. “Maximal build-out”—an ironical concept for a park—is called for. Such a practice is environmentally questionable and should be avoided.

Recommendations for environmentally approved materials and surfaces should be made for park improvements. Pervious surfaces for playing fields should be called for when at all possible.

The plan fails to provide even a mention of the East Coast Greenway, an off-road trail from Maine to Florida that has been endorsed by the City of Jersey City, Hudson County, and the five additional counties and 26 municipalities along the route in New Jersey. This trail should have a section devoted to it, and should be mentioned in the description of the Harsimus Branch Embankment in the acquisition section. It should also be described in a new description that the plan should add to the acquisition section, that is, the Bergen Arches.

The Executive Summary should reflect the important additions above.

In addition, the plan should follow the County Open Space lead and make land acquisition its first priority. Land must be acquired for open space now if Jersey City is to continue its policy of encouraging rampant development. This emphasis should be noted prominently and also included in the Executive Summary’s item calling for the creation of an Open Space Trust Fund. Additional recommendations should be made regarding this fund that would help keep it from becoming a political slush fund, or absolve City government from making usual expenditures for park improvements.

While communication may seem an extraneous issue, other recommendations made in the report cannot be effected without a major revamping of City means of communicating to its residents, principally the City web site, which is deplorable in its lack of information and updating.
CORE RECOMMENDATIONS

The T&M Proposal provides a comprehensive foundation for powerful growth and renewal for city parks. The following recommendations focus on initiatives that CIVIC JC and the other co-sponsors advocate for improving the current draft plan.

1. Green Belt Circuit: The centerpiece of the City park system should be a green belt traversing the heart of Jersey City. A continuous route is within reach, comprising riverfront walkways on the Hudson and Hackensack with the Harsimus Stem Embankment and the East Coast Greenway serving as an east/west link on the north, and a necklace to parks and bikeways linking sections of restored Morris Canal greenways on the south. This bike and walk route would provide valuable recreation opportunities, would be a tourist destination, would provide a alternative transportation link between neighborhoods, would offer safe pedestrian routes for school children. Last but certainly not least it would be a source of urban pride and a visionary open space amenity in many ways surpassing similar projects in Paris and New York in scale, and grandeur.

2. The Bergen Arches, the East Coast Greenway and the Harsimus Stem Embankment: The abandoned railway cut known as Bergen Arches provides a unique and stunning opportunity to experience a natural environment in the heart of the city. When it was excavated this was the deepest man-made canyon in the world. Now it boasts an urban forest oasis filled with trees and birds living yards from some of the busiest streets and most heavily-traveled highways in the region. The experience of walking through the Arches is similar to visiting the most spectacular sections of Rock Creek Park in Washington, D.C. Furthermore, The Bergen Arches should be a high priority for acquisition, because it is a recommended segment of the East Coast Greenway which is also missing from the current T&M Plan. The Arches and the Embankment will be featured destination points on the Greenway attracting visitors regionally and from beyond. The Greenway is being developed by a coalition of citizen volunteers and local and state governments up and down the East Coast.

3. Active Recreational Facilities: There is a desperate need for sports fields and facilities of all kinds. Unfortunately, some of the best opportunities for meeting this need through new acquisition have been squandered, in particular the myopic insistence on designating the PJP landfill site for development as a warehouse. Also, compounding the problem are the misguided plans to add recreational space where it is inappropriate, for example in Reservoir #3, Riverview Park, Mary Benson Park, and Veteran’s Park (Freedom Point). Some of these issues have been addressed and hopefully the voices of the community will continue to be heeded in correcting such mistakes. Still, the problem of where to build new sports facilities remains. Despite the apparent loss of the PJP site there are still significant opportunities for creating recreational use on the scale needed in undeveloped land in Lincoln Park West, and sites to the north along the Hackensack. Partnering with the county in this effort will help to solve the problem. Also, existing recreational sites need significant attention. Some high priority locations are Bayside Park, Dr. Lena Edwards Park, Muhammad Ali Park, Pershing Fields Park and Reverend Ercel F. Webb Park.

4. Swimming Pools: More municipal pools are needed for general recreation and for senior fitness classes. Reopening the Harmon Street Pool on Communipaw Avenue should be a high priority initiative.

5. Comprehensive Bike Lanes Program: A network of well-designed, well-marked, safe bike lanes would provide tremendous return in terms of quality-of-life benefit at low cost. A system of on and off-road, protected bike lanes should be developed throughout the city. The core of this network should be the Green Circuit proposed above.

6. The Hudson and Hackensack River Walkway: Segments of the waterfront walkways need to be completed. The completion of continuous, public walkways on both rivers will benefit all, and the city must work in concert with other authorities to realize this common goal. On the Hackensack River side where much more remains to be done, picnic sites, playgrounds, and parking lots are required to attract people to a little used areas.

7. Community Gardens: The Brunswick Community Garden is an important educational and recreational resource that needs to be supported and protected. Community gardens are an ideal use of small lots scattered throughout the city where other park uses would be difficult to establish. Community gardens by definition involve community support and maintenance for green space.

8. Lawn and Garden Irrigation Systems: Many parks organizations have requested irrigation systems to help maintain their lawns and gardens; these include Reverend Ercel Webb Park, Pershing Fields, Hamilton Park, Isetta McDuffy Park, Van Vorst Park, Sgt. Anthony Park and Paulus Hook Four Corner Park. T&M has agreed at community meetings that this is an important maintenance initiative. It should also be kept in mind that in these times of increasing strains on our water supply, native grasses, and green space that requires minimal maintenance should be encouraged.

9. Park-Based Community Policing: We endorse this proposal from the Jersey City Parks Coalition. Two police officers per shift should be assigned to each of the nine largest city parks. The tour would be divided between time spent in the park getting to know park goers and also touring adjacent streets. By covering city blocks surrounding nine park communities, much of our City’s residential population would be policed on a full-time basis. This would reverse a situation that currently allows some of these parks to be safe haven for vandals and drug dealing. Park-based policing would provide a structure for building strong cooperation between citizens and police.

10. Tree Planting and Care: The planting and nurturing of street trees is a top priority in every neighborhood. Many neighborhoods have conceded any chance of securing a park of their own, and look to a dream of tree-lined streets as their only realistic opportunity to add an element of greenery to their quality of life. Civic groups are working with The New Jersey Tree Foundation and other sources to plant more trees. A Shade Tree Commission should be created and given broad powers resources to save threatened mature tress, remove unsafe trees, and plant and care for new trees.

11. Create a Partnership-for-Parks Program, and Support Local Park Conservancies: We support the initiatives outlined in the T&M Implementation Strategy to encourage strong community support for parks and strengthen partnerships between citizen groups and municipal government. These alliances are vital to the preservation and health of existing parks and the creation of much needed additional park space. The Jersey City Parks Coalition is the leading City-wide Parks conservancy and other individual parks organizations plan to form conservancies.

12. Create a Jersey City Open Space Trust Fund: A city open space tax complementing the County tax recently approved by voters would provide some of the much needed revenue for acquisition, maintenance, and programs. Many municipalities throughout New Jersey have instituted this program. This is one tax that voters consistently support.

13. Parks and Open Space Grants Writer: The City needs a full-time, experienced grant writer, working on recreational and open space grants exclusively, who will aggressively compete for available dollars from state and federal sources. An Open Space Advisory Committee made up of Council people, Parks Department professionals, and qualified citizens should be established to enhance communication and monitor open space funding. Local parks organizations have done an impressive job of identifying and raising funds for parks, notably the Embankment Preservation Coalition, and Jersey City Parks Coalition.

14. Supervision and Maintenance: New initiatives to maintain, supervise, and educate in parks are essential to the success of an upgraded parks program. Parks personnel must be visible participants in the daily activities of every park. Programs for children, young adults, and seniors must be significantly expanded. Volunteers and “friends of parks” groups should be mobilized to bring their commitment and energy to the effort of revitalizing and maintaining parks. In many neighborhoods, supervision supported by police presence is necessary to make parks safe and accessible to all citizens.

15. All-Weather Recreational Surfaces: We support the T&M Associates recommendation to convert to all weather field surfaces for recreational use.
Seasonal sports use can be overlapped in-season and fields can be scheduled for use year-round. Many scarce recreational spaces are currently monopolized by one organization when they could be shared by multiple users. Some fields are rented to out-of-town leagues while local groups are locked out. Many of the recreational fields in Jersey City could be more creatively managed to add uses for adult leagues and multiple sports use while maintaining a high level of field conditions.

16. The Paulus Hook Waterfront Park Complex: This densely-populated neighborhood with little local park space has prime waterfront lots that should be developed as green space – a potential city showpiece that has languished in an unusable or neglected condition for years. Though the patchwork of ownership adds an extra level of challenge to developing this site, shaping Peninsula Park, Veterans Park, Colgate Park, and the Morris Canal Historic Site into a world class riverfront park is a landscape architect’s dream. A playground, dog run, lighting and a finished link in the riverfront walkway are at the top of the wish list. Residents have overwhelmingly rejected the additional parking and the soccer field recommended to be shoe-horned into the site.

CIVIC JC

Dan Levin, President
Andrew Hubsch, Vice-President
Peter Delman, Member

INTRODUCTION

CIVIC JC is a non-partisan, community-based non-profit organization formed to promote good city government by disseminating information on key local issues, and by working with existing organizations to develop Jersey City’s potential as a “World Class City.” Improving our open space and recreational assets is one of our priority initiatives.

This report offers a number of targeted recommendations that focus on city-wide needs and specific projects that merit special mention and support. Many worthy projects and proposals are not mentioned, because we feel they are already well represented by other citizens’ groups. Members of our Board have attended all the recent community meetings with T&M Associates, and have consulted with numerous community open space leaders in the process of creating this report. Many of our Board members have considerable experience and expertise with open space and recreation issues.

OVERVIEW

By any measure, Jersey City faces a major-open space deficit. Very little new municipal park space has been created in living memory. We have relied on state and county acquisitions and improvements, and the City has done little to address the need for green space. Recreational sites have been built or improved, but much more active recreational space is needed.

The County’s Open Space Plan says that every citizen should be able to go out the door and take “a ten-minute walk to a park bench.” Studies show that park use goes up dramatically among citizens living near parks – which, of course, is only common sense. There have been some fine restorations of existing municipal parks in recent years, yet many neighborhoods remain underserved or lack any park space at all. There is a desperate need for small special recreational uses, particularly community gardens, swimming pools, and dog runs. There is a strong demand for increased baseball and soccer playing fields. One of the most popular park uses in the poll included in the County Open Space Plan is for nature trails and passive parks.

Meanwhile, one of the largest building booms in history goes on all around us. These major development projects bring great benefit to the City, yet on the score of providing new open space they are all woefully inadequate. The Lefrak development company has ignored promises to create green space in its sprawling Newport project and has reneged on an agreement to set aside a block for open space in its planned Tenth Street development. The Liberty Harbor North redevelopment includes only token green space. One source lists 49 sites – proposed, approved, or under construction – offering 10,000 new residential units and zero new green space. Speculators are buying up vacant property in underdeveloped neighborhoods and hoarding them in anticipation of a spreading housing boom. Consequently, neighborhood groups report there is no space available for projects like playgrounds, dog runs, and community gardens at any price.

Recently, another disturbing trend has been the pitting of groups seeking expanded recreational space against those advocating passive uses. While media attention has been focused on the simmering dispute between recreational and green space activists at the Reservoir #3 site, similar tensions swirl around park development plans in other neighborhoods. Mary Benson Park and Dr. Lisa Edwards Park are less high-profile examples. This is the most important open-space issue in the city. To allow these divisive battles to spin out-of-control is unacceptable. Space must be found to meet both recreational and green space needs – and it can be. Only recently, while courting the Jets to build a practice facility here, the City administration assured worried local sports teams that new sites for fields could be easily provided. The Jets moved on, but the need for sports facilities remains, and solutions can be found. Creating a balance of active and passive open space in all neighborhoods should be the theme of our green-space planning, and is an achievable goal.

CORE RECOMMENDATIONS

The following recommendations either refer to city-wide issues, or are highest priority projects.

• Open Space Grants Writer: The City has an open space deficit, but it also faces a large budget deficit. The City needs a full- time, experienced grant writer, working on recreational and open space grants exclusively, who will aggressively compete for available dollars from state and federal sources. An Open Space Advisory Committee made up of Councilpeople, Parks department professionals, and qualified citizens should be established to enhanced communication and monitor open space funding.

• Supervision and Maintenance: New initiatives to maintain, supervise, and educate in parks are essential to the success of an upgraded parks program. Parks personnel must be visible participants in the daily activities of every park. Programs for children, young adults, and seniors must be significantly expanded. Volunteers and “friends of parks” groups should be mobilized to bring their commitment and energy to the effort of revitalizing and maintaining parks. In many neighborhoods, supervision supported by police presence is necessary to make parks safe and accessible to all citizens.

• Green Belt Circuit: The centerpiece of the City park system should be a green belt circuit traversing the heart of Jersey City. A continuous route is within reach, comprising riverfront walkways on the Hudson and Hackensack with the Harsimus Embankment and the East Coast Greenway serving as an east/west link on the north and a necklace of parks and bikeways linking Morris Canal greenways on the south.

• Green Incentives for Developers: Major development projects in Jersey City should be encouraged and required to include significant public green space in their plans. The days are long gone when building in Jersey City is a risky venture, yet developers are still treated to free passes they don’t deserve. Large- scale redevelopment plans that represent a change in use or density must be required to provide new green space in addition to green dollars.

• Education: Education and recreational programs must be expanded to serve a broader range of ages and interests. Formal educational programs such as ones offered at the interpretive center in Liberty State Park should be created for the other natural sites and community gardens throughout the city. Fitness clubs should be enlisted to provide a variety of scheduled free fitness activities.

• Active Recreational Facilities: The key site for providing desperately needed active recreation is the PJP landfill site. This underdeveloped site together with adjacent potential sites and the undeveloped portions of Lincoln Park West represent our best opportunity to provide active recreational facilities on the scale needed. With the county and city working together, there is room enough for a golf course, ball fields, and picnic areas along the Hackensack waterfront walkway.

• Preserving Unique Open Space Sites, The Harsimus Embankment and Reservoir #3: These two historic open space sites must be preserved and made accessible to the public. Both projects have broad community support and will provide multi-use all-season recreation once secured and properly rehabilitated. Both will have global tourist appeal commensurate with the “World Class City” concept. The Embankment project has already attracted major funding from state and federal sources and both sites have the potential to be self-sustaining.

• Tree Planting and Care: The planting and nurturing of street trees is a top priority in every neighborhoods. Many neighborhoods have conceded any chance of securing a park of their own and look to a dream of tree-lined streets as their only realistic opportunity to add an element of greenery to their quality of life. Civic groups are working with The New Jersey Tree Foundation and other sources to plant more trees. A Shade Tree Commission should be created and given broader power and resources to save threatened mature trees, remove unsafe trees, and plant and care for new trees.

SPECIFIC PROJECT RECOMMENDATIONS

The following targeted recommendations describe high-priority program that in some cases have received little public attention. The emphasis is on providing city wide benefit and on focusing attention on underserved neighborhoods.

• Comprehensive Bike Lanes Program

A network of well-designed, well-marked, safe bike lanes would provide tremendous return in terms of quality-of-life benefit at relatively low cost. A system of on and off-road, protected bike lanes should be developed throughout the city. Major attention should be given to interconnecting bike routes and to knitting together far-flung city communities. The center core of this network should be the green circuit provided by the planned off-road paths of the Harsimus Embankment/Bergen Arches/East Coast Greenway initiative, the two river walkways, with a mix of park and on-road connections completing the southern leg of the loop.

• Municipal Open Space Tax

A city open space tax complementing the County tax recently approved by voters would provide some of the much needed revenue for acquisition, maintenance, and programs. Many municipalities throughout New Jersey have instituted this program. This is one tax that voters consistently support.

• Park-Based Community Policing

We endorse this proposal from the Jersey City Parks Coalition. Two police officers per shift should be assigned to each of the nine largest city parks. The tour would be divided between time spent in the park getting to know park goers and also touring the adjacent streets. By covering city blocks surrounding nine park communities, much of our City’s residential population would be policed on a full-time basis. This would reverse a situation that currently allows some of these parks to be a safe haven for vandals and drug dealing. Park-based policing would provide a structure for building strong cooperation between citizens and police.

• All-Weather Recreational Surfaces

All weather recreational surfaces provide flexibility of use and seasonal use that grass turf cannot. Baseball, football, soccer, and other sports field profiles can be overlapped providing flexible scheduling and saving space. Many municipal recreational facilities in Jersey City are managed by one organization that may exclude appropriate use by other local organizations. Some fields are rented to out-of-town leagues while local groups are locked out. Many of the recreational fields in Jersey City could be more creatively managed to add uses for adult leagues and multiple sports use while maintaining a high level of field condition.

• The Hudson and Hackensack River Walkway

Segments of the waterfront walkways need to be completed. The completion of continuous, public walkways on both rivers will benefit all, and the city must work in concert with other authorities to realize this common goal. On the Hackensack River side where much more remains to be done, picnic sites, playgrounds, and parking lots are required to attract people to a little traveled area.

• Swimming Pools

More municipal pools are needed for general recreation and for senior fitness classes.

• Dog Runs

The needs of dogs and dog owners are virtually ignored at this point. This situation is causing tremendous stress both on the grass cover in our parks, and confrontation between various park users, particularly dog owners and parents.
Sustainable dog runs should be built in designated existing parks. Supervision, rule enforcement, maintenance and strong community participation are all essential for dog-friendly parks to work. In addition, the City should acquire lots to be developed as dog runs at a distance from the larger parks. This will serve dog owners who live far from parks, and help to relieve the pressure on our already overtaxed green spaces.

• Community Gardens

Community gardens are an important open space resource that give much to the surrounding community and are currently getting little attention from municipal government. The recreational and educational benefits are unique and clear. The City should survey all existing community gardens and secure the property for viable gardens, by eminent domain if necessary. In addition, the City should work with community groups to establish community gardens on City-owned lots, particularly in underserved communities.

• Bayside Park (Garfield Avenue, Ward A)

The core of this beautiful park is the tree-lined upper park promenade and the carefully maintained Jackie Robinson Little League playing fields. Much needs to be done to bring the rest of the park up to the standard of the best parts. The northern wing of the park should be rehabilitated to include well-maintained, all- weather basketball courts, tennis courts, a children’s play area, and parking for ball games. Major improvements are needed on the restroom facilities, concession stand, bleachers, and dugouts. Improved lighting and security cameras are needed.

• The Bergen Arches (parallels the Rt. 1&9 covered roadway)

If “world class” attractions are sought for Jersey City, this abandoned railroad cut provides a unique and stunning opportunity to create one. When it was excavated this was the deepest man-made canyon in the world. Now it boasts an urban forest oasis filled with trees and birds living yards from some of the busiest streets and most heavily-traveled highways in the region. The Bergen Arches is a recommended segment of the East Coast Greenway and is northwest of the Harsimus Embankment and a few blocks from Reservoir #3.

• Dr. Lena Edwards Park (Johnson Avenue, Lafayette Section)

This small park is in need of a complete overhaul. Better lighting is a high priority. Bathrooms and parking are needed to accommodate the current basketball program and other community-based activities. Undeveloped areas on the southeast corner of the park could be used for a combination of parking and planted areas. Consistent supervision, security, and maintenance are essential to the success of this mostly recreational use neighborhood park.

• The East Coast Greenway

A key segment of the East Coast Greenway, a walk and bikeway running from Maine to Florida, is slated to follow a route through downtown Jersey City. The Harsimus Embankment and the Bergen Arches will be destination points on the Greenway attracting visitors regionally and beyond. The Greenway is being developed by a coalition of citizen volunteers and local and state governments up and down the East Coast. New Jersey is giving its strong support to this effort on the state level and our City government should continue to do all it can to make this plan a reality. An East Coast Greenway Alliance Blueprint for Action, funded by the New Jersey Department of Transportation, has Embankment acquisition as a 2006 priority.

• J. Owen Grundy Park (Exchange Place)

This waterfront pier park is a unique oasis for office workers at lunch time and for everyone, especially on hot summer nights. The Park has fallen into disrepair and needs a complete redesign and restoration effort to bring it up to its potential as a key destination on the Hudson River Walkway route.

• Mary Benson Park (Newark Avenue and Sixth Street)

This park was initially designed as a passive park, but currently has an undersized ball field shoehorned in the middle of it. The ball field is often rented to teams from other towns, while largely unavailable for use by local groups. The Mary Benson Park Association would like the ball field removed and replaced by benches and gardens, a playground, tennis courts, and a dog run. The existing bathroom facility should be refurbished for use by park visitors as well as Harsimus Embankment and East Coast Greenway users. With cooperation from the state and PSE&G, there is much potential for expanding this park to the west to include undeveloped open space adjacent to the turnpike extension. This space could be used for active recreation.

• Muhammad Ali Park (Van Nostrand Avenue, Ward A)

This recreational park is in extremely deteriorated condition. Rehabilitation should include all-weather basketball courts, a children’s playground and planted areas, and lighting. Strong fencing with lockable gates will be required. Key to success will be a partnership between local community groups and the City to promote and maintain a refurbished park.

• The Paulus Hook Waterfront Park Complex (Essex & Hudson Streets)

This densely-populated neighborhood with little local park space has prime waterfront lots ready to be developed as green space, a potential city showpiece that has languished in an unusable or neglected condition for years. Creative solutions for shaping Peninsula Park, Veterans Park, Colgate Park, and the Morris Canal Historic Site into a world class riverfront park is a landscape architect’s dream. A dog run, lighting, and a footbridge across the canal mouth are at the top of the wish list.

• The Reverend Ercel F. Webb Park (Lafayette Street, Lafayette Section)

This park sets an example for what can be accomplished when the City and community groups work together. It is a beautifully-designed park which serves its community well. There is also a cautionary tale to be heeded here as key elements necessary for the park’s long-term success need to be provided. Better lighting, a summertime irrigation system, and, most importantly, improved security are badly needed as they are in many parks across the city.

Liberty State Park, once a waterfront wasteland of abandoned railroad yards and decaying piers, is now a beloved open space park on the Jersey City waterfront. The park, 600 acres above water and 600 acres under water, will be 30 years old in June, 2006. LSP is an inspiring recreational, natural, historic, educational and cultural public resource. LSP includes large lawn areas, picnic areas, playgrounds, a segment of the Hudson River Walkway, a public boat launch, the historic Central Railroad Terminal, ferries to Lady Liberty and Ellis Island, a nature center and the Liberty Science Center. LSP’s interior, where nature is making a dramatic recovery, is being planned as one of the nation’s largest urban nature restoration project and will have nature trails.

The Embankment is an out-of -use railroad trestles built a century ago of massive stone blocks. The walls support more than six acres of habitat that has returned to nature. A coalition of citizens has been working for seven years to secure the Embankment as a linear park designed for use by walkers and cyclists.

Within the historic wall of Reservoir Number 3 are fourteen acres of open space in the middle of the northern heights section of the city. It has never been built on, even by the Indians. Visitors will observe a variety of trees and plants, as well as wildlife including great blue heron, egrets, kestrels and peregrine falcons. The Egyptian revival stone retaining wall and pump houses add to the historic relevance of the site. The Alliance is working to preserve the reservoir as green space and natural habitat.