The RecordEditorial LET LIBERTY STATE PARK BE A PARK FOR EVERYONEJanuary 5,
1995 The choice is
between a quick fix that will tie up the middle of the park
for 30 years and a gradual greening process that would create a public
space for all New Jerseyans to enjoy. The farther into the future you
look, the more obvious the choice becomes. To reach its full potential, Liberty
State Park doesn't need fairways and sandtraps that would serve
relatively few people. It needs great lawns and picnic groves. The park,
located on the Hudson River waterfront in Jersey City, is already New
Jersey's most popular state
park, with more than 2 million visitors a year. Major draws
include the Liberty Science
Center and the Circle Line ferries to nearby Ellis Island and the Statue
of Liberty. But the park's
potential is in its infancy. Once fully
restored, the majestic brick Central Railroad terminal, which served as
the gateway to America for millions of immigrants and which offers one of
the most breath-taking views of New York harbor, will also be a draw. And
planned light-rail service along the waterfront from Bayonne to Ridgefield
will make the park more
accessible by public transportation. The Liberty
State Park
Development Corp., the private non-profit group that operates the park,
has been touting the golf course as the only quick and cost-effective way
to develop the 150 acres. What the golf-course plan would do, above all
else, is to put the middle of the park
off-limits to the vast majority of the public for three decades the length
of the golf course lease. The
development corporation says that the golf course, backed by $20 million
in taxpayer-supported bonds, will pay for itself. If the corporation is
wrong, as several experts contend, then all New Jerseyans will help foot
the bill for a golf course used by a tiny percentage of the public. Aside from the
pressure being exerted by the development corporation, there is no great
sense of urgency to develop the remaining part of the park. At state
hearings this summer, speaker after speaker representing regional civic
and environmental groups urged that the park
be developed gradually, with the help of volunteers, as state,
federal, and private funding become available. Thousands of New Jerseyans
echoed those sentiments in letters to Mrs. Whitman. To build a
golf course on this precious real estate is to sell Liberty State Park
short. To lay the groundwork for a people's park
is a decision that will benefit New Jerseyans for generations to come. The choice,
and Liberty State Park's
future, is in Mrs. Whitman's hands. |