Citizens say 'Connect The Parks'

Monday, June 25, 2007
By CHARLES HACK
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

As any Paulus Hook dog owner knows, the spit of land at the southern tip of Jersey City has a prime view of the Lower Manhattan skyline.

Now a group of residents and business owners have come together to protect the eroding peninsula and join it to four plots of land to the north to create one large park to be the pride of the neighborhood.

Yesterday, the Paulus Hook Parks Conservancy held a free festival to promote their vision of the unified park.

Some of the land is already dedicated as park space, including the grassy peninsula that separates the Little Basin of the Morris Canal and the estuary for the Liberty Landing Marina, which is officially part of the Liberty State Park.

But across the Morris Canal Little Basin, the waterfront parcels in public and private hands are in limbo to become public green space.

The land south of the Goldman Sachs building, under the Colgate clock, is owned by the state and has been dedicated as Veterans Park. An area next to that is shared between Liberty State Park and Jersey City. And Colgate Park, which now has ball courts being renovated, is owned the Colgate Property Owners Association.

Meanwhile, an ordinance is awaiting a second reading that would dedicate the end of Washington Street - a section of road closed to traffic - as park land, accessible only to the disabled and to those going to the Korean Veterans Memorial.

To start the process rolling, the parks conservancy, which was formed recently as an offshoot of the Historic Paulus Hook Association, have put together a public survey as a sort of "wish list" for the park.

Filmmaker Stephanie Daniels, co-chair of the Connect The Parks event, said ideas so far include a dog park, picnic tables, a dog run, a performance area, children's playgrounds for different age groups, ball courts, a water park, and kayak launch.

To take part in the survey, log on to www.paulushook.net.