And don't forget that Ballot 2 was another Democrat deal that first screws and chips away at LSP-now we know it was their first salvo to take over the park.

The Governor's office doesn't write bills. This grab was authored by a Hudson County Democrat, and passed with Democratic majorities in the state House and Senate.

It's a very misleading headline, and if Christie doesn't at least conditionally veto it-taking out any LSP authority) I'll be pissed off.

It sounds like Fulop might be mad that this new Meadowland Regional Commission might beat him by putting a casino in the park, instead of alongside it next to the Liberty National Golf Club . . .

there are always hidden agendas, whether in the real world or here on jclist ..., but this is something we should all oppose -

http://www.nj.com/opinion/index.ssf/2 ... itorial.html#incart_river

Gov. Christie's agenda threatens Liberty State Park: Editorial

If you enjoy the glorious, unspoiled vistas of Liberty State Park ? easily the most popular public space in the northern half of our state ? you may want to prepare yourself for the possibility that someone wants to carve a neon noisemaker right into the heart of its 600 pristine acres.

A bill is currently on the governor?s desk that would remove the park from under the control of the Department of Environmental Protection, which is charged with protecting our state?s resources, and hand it over to the Meadowlands Regional Commission, a new entity that is all about business development and gaming.

Remarkably, this provision was added to the bill very quietly, a week before Christmas, without legislative debate or public discussion. There is only one reason these guys pull that stunt: They cannot defend the measure on the merits.

So you can see why skeptics believe that the backdrop for our most universal symbol of freedom, the Statue of Liberty, is one signature away from being transformed into, say, a polystyrene monument to glitzy showgirls and Fat Elvises and roulette wheels.

Jersey City mayor Steve Fulop calls the bill a ?formal step to attempt to privatize? that would be ?a black eye for the state of New Jersey.?

It certainly is a black eye for democracy. Not only was passed in the legislative shadows, its language is beyond vague, apparently so no one would notice that it could sharply curtain the influence of the DEP ? the same DEP that prevented the construction of a water park and golf course inside the park after, you guessed it, public hearings.

And neither the chief sponsor, Assembly speaker Vincent Prieto (D-Hudson), nor the governor?s office will provide a cogent defense of this move, in writing or verbally. We are supposed to trust them.

This bill is an abomination. A state park is public space, and this one is hallowed ground ? not only for New Jerseyans, but for any of the five million people who pass through annually.

This was the place that Hudson sailed past on his way up from the Lower Bay. This place provided the port-side tableau venerated by Emma Lazarus as she penned the phrase, ?The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame? (and don?t bother suggesting she meant Brooklyn ? you go to your church, we?ll go to ours.)

This is the home of Ellis Island, and the Romanesque wonder that is the Central Railroad Terminal, and the superb Empty Sky memorial ? three iconic symbols of this nation?s history.

Of course, some would assert that nothing says ?hallowed ground? better than a few dozen banks of slot machines and some craps tables.

There is nothing wrong with controlled, periodic, and reasonable privatization ? summer concerts, wedding ceremonies and the like.

But the rest of us have a right to discuss it, before the matter is turned over to a development commission with sweeping authority to ?evaluate, approve, and implement any plans. . . .for development, enhancement, or improvement of Liberty State Park.?

The governor will settle this issue alone, however. And it will say much about those we entrust with stewardship of our most precious resources, and the judgment they show when their agenda is hidden from those they are charged to serve.

and what you can do -

http://www.folsp.org/preservation/save_fund_lsp.htm

Essex County is very dense, and taking away any open space for commercial development may be popular, but is it right?

I have no doubt that putting in a miniature golf course would be successful in LSP. Or an amusement park. Or a theme restaurant.

But do we want to do this?

As far as the casino and racetrack not being in LSP, they'll be directly adjacent to it-and I'll bet this land grab will end up with some of the undeveloped LSP land being 'swapped' or used. The whole industrial area alongside the park will be used for the racetrack-imagine the noise filtering over into the park during event days. And the traffic, hence my 'crocodile tears' comment about Fulop. He doesn't want to sully the park, but he wants to drop a racetrack alongside it?

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Actually, the changes DiVincenzo have made are incredibly successful.

The restaurant and mini golf course are on parts of the Reservation adjacent to busy roads, and were underutilized for years. The Orange Reservoir has been unused for a long time, was mired in lawsuits between Orange and West Orange, and adding it as a recreation resource is a good use. The Turtle Back Zoo - which was once in danger of being shut down -- has flourished, and is adding new facilities. They've added significantly more parking for the buses to NYC.

On weekends, the recreation complex is often so busy that the parking lots overflow.

Now, I won't say that DiVincenzo is squeaky clean. But the South Mountain recreation area is a huge success, and hasn't compromised the character of South Mountain Reservation. So you might want to find a different project to proclaim as the Epitome of Democratic Evils.

The casino and racetrack aren't actually in the park.

I'd rather have JC in charge of any development while still under DEP watch than open it up to the meadowlands gaming commission.

On a smaller scale, Essex Exec Democrat Joe Di has done the same to the South Mountain Reservation, drawn by the Olmstead brothers landscape company. He gave a sweetheart deal for a restaurant to a political supporter, Tim McLoone, bulldozed a corner into a miniature golf course, and has silly swan shaped paddle boats available for rent. Imagine this with Prieto on a much grander scale.

And to read Fulop's comments, you'd think he has nothing to do with dropping a 100,000 seat racetrack, 90 story hotel/casino, and other developments in the same area. (It sounds like 'time for a little traffic jam in Liberty State Park', doesn't it?)

I'm not taking a blogger's word on that, especially from an unknown 'source'.
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The provision affecting LSP was apparently inserted on behalf of a request by the governor's office. Regardless, this is New Jersey. There is no red state / blue state BS, everyone is corrupt. I'm not sure why you keep making a big deal out of partisan nothings.

The Jersey Avenue extension has been planned for years. A draft proposal was issued by Healy (a Democrat, gawsh).

I hope Christie will veto this Democrat led land grab. The Hudson County Democrats, led by Prieto (and with casino proponent, Fulop, crying crocodile tears) should be ashamed of themselves.

The Jersey Avenue roadway into LSP is on Fulop's agenda, no?

Liberty State Park advocates fighting state bill, ballot measure they say will harm park

By Sudip Bhattacharya | The Jersey Journal
January 02, 2015 at 5:47 PM

JERSEY CITY -- Friends of Liberty State Park, the nonprofit group that advocates for the Jersey City waterfront park, is waging battles on two fronts that they say will have lasting negative impacts on the urban, waterfront oasis.

One measure, adopted by both houses of the state legislature last year, the Hackensack Meadowlands Agency Consolidation Act, would merge the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission with the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority.

As a result, towns that now have to contribute to a fund to compensate municipalities that are prohibited from developing in the Meadowlands would no longer have to pay into the fund, according to proponents of the bill.

The "contributing towns" in Hudson County are North Bergen and Secaucus. In Hudson, Jersey City and Kearny receive money annually from the program.

But the Friends of Liberty State Park (FOLSP) fear some control of the park would be taken from the state Department of Environmental Protection's Division of Parks and Forestry, which has managed the park since 1976, and given to the new consolidated entity.

Second, the group believes language in the bill could give a green light to increased commercialism at the park.

Read more:
http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... ommission_with_njsea.html