Skyway Park: Jersey City Steps Up
After the initial cleanup of the PJP Landfill in the late 1980s, it took years to accomplish the final remediation and, for a time, a portion of the site became a junkyard. In 2009, Jersey City took legal action against the owner of the property to have debris removed. Later, after learning that the final remediation for this parcel would have placed this waterfront land behind a barbed wire fence for the foreseeable future, the Healy Administration worked with Waste Management, who were undertaking the remediation, and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection to modify the clean-up plan to allow the site to be a park.
In 2012, the site was purchased with Open Space Trust Fund grants by Jersey City and funds from the Port Authority designated for wetlands and habitat restoration. Around that time, a large portion of the property was sold to build a giant warehouse; the rest of the land– about 32 acres– was designated as parkland.
After substantial input from the public, Jersey City and the Hackensack Riverkeeper jointly applied for a Green Acres grant from the State of NJ and were awarded $800,000 for the creation of the park. This new phase called for a natural and passive area that would finally provide the people of the Marion neighborhood and nearby Journal Square easy access to the Hackensack River Waterfront. The area had been planted with native grasses and wildflowers, creating a gorgeous natural contrast to the imposing industrial structures that otherwise dominate the landscape.
But, for a number of years, little had been done to move forward on plans to build a park. In 2018, the Skyway Park Conservancy was formed to promote this idea of a new park along the Hackensack River shore. In November 2020, Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop announced that the city would build a new park, with a Covid Memorial of 500 trees to commemorate the 502 people who died during the height of the pandemic.
But trees could not be planted at the site because of the cap. The plans had to be altered. Jersey City brought in consultants. An engineering firm, Arcadis, was hired to develop a new proposal for the site. Working closely with Skyway Park Conservancy and the JC Department of Infrastructure, Arcadis submitted their proposal in July 2023.
At that point, environmental concerns, financial limitations and poltiical issues stalled the development of the park. Now that there is a new administration in Jersey City, interest in finally moving forward with Skyway Park has resumed.
One priority is the Hackensack River Greenway. In Hudson County, the HRG runs about 20 miles from Secaucus to Bayonne– and goes right through Skyway Park. When the giant warehouse, now owned by Prologis (the largest industrial landlord in the world) was built just to the south of Skyway Park, a paved walkway along the river shore was created as part of NJ’s Public Trust Doctrine which requires public access to waterfronts. That walkway, at the southern entrance to Skyway Park, is part of the Hackensack River Greenway.
It is clearly time to develop Skyway Park! The Hackensack River shoreline– and the river itself– needs to be returned to its natural splendor. Already there is a lot of activity and interest in developing in Jersey City a “Green Coast” on the west side to complement the Hudson River’s “Gold Coast” on the east. Skyway Park will serve as an important part of that goal.