Jersey City Council Unites to Urge Liberty State Park Protection Act

Tells State: “LSP Is Not For Sale”

JERSEY CITY, NJ – All nine members of the Jersey City Council today announced a formal resolution urging New Jersey’s state legislature to pass the Liberty State Park Protection Act.

The Protection Act, introduced in Trenton by Assemblyman Raj Mukherji and Sen. Sandra Cunningham after impassioned activism from Sam Pesin and the Friends of Liberty State Park, would stop an onslaught of privatization threats to the park over recent years.

“The State considers new commercial proposals almost every year – a race track, a golf course, a hotel – that would take huge stretches of public green space from the people of Jersey City just to turn it into dollar signs for private developers”, the Council announced in a collective statement. “Enough is enough. We’re telling Trenton: Liberty State Park is not for sale.”

The resolution, introduced and backed by Council President Rolando Lavarro, Council Members At-Large Joyce Watterman and Daniel Rivera, Ward A Councilwoman Denise Ridley, Ward B Councilwoman Mira Prinz-Arey, Ward C Councilman Richard Boggiano, Ward D Councilman Michael Yun, Ward E Councilman James Solomon, and Ward F Councilman Jermaine Robinson, is expected to pass at Wednesday February 27’s meeting.

If passed, the Liberty State Park Protection Act would establish a public process for any privatization lease of one year or more while nonetheless allowing small park-appropriate commercial activities to flourish. The Act would prevent New Jersey’s Department of Environmental Protection, which currently administers the park, from considering any further proposals to develop, commercialize, or sell off the park.

Liberty State Park, long known as “The People’s Park”, was a Bicentennial gift from the people of New Jersey to the people of the United States. Each year, between 4 and 5 million visitors come to the park, at least 700,000 of whom are international. The park provides urban wildlife habitats, wetlands, educational programs, diverse recreation opportunities, and numerous points of historic interest.

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