Liberty State Park

Restoration of the Interior of Liberty State Park

A bill recently introduced in the New Jersey State Legislature will seek to protect Jersey City’s Liberty State Park from inappropriate privatization and commercial development plans.

“The Liberty State Park Protection Act,” introduced by New Jersey Assemblyman Raj Mukherji (D-Hudson) and Sen. Sandra Cunningham (D-Hudson), seeks to preserve open space at Liberty State Park (LSP) in perpetuity and to protect it against the relentless assaults of inappropriate privatization and commercial development schemes that have plagued this great, free American public commons since it opened in 1976.

The park encompasses more than 1,200 acres–approximately 600 acres of land and 600 acres of water–and contains significant natural, historic, recreational, scenic, and cultural resources. It is a priceless New Jersey and American urban oasis in the middle of densely populated metropolitan northern New Jersey.

More than 5 million people of all ethnicities, religions and cultures visit the park each year to enjoy free outdoor activities together, natural areas, the Nature Center and the historic CRRNJ Terminal with its immigration and transportation history.

The purpose of the Liberty State Park Protection Act is to preserve open space at Liberty State Park (LSP) in perpetuity and to protect it against the relentless assaults of inappropriate privatization and commercial development plans schemes that have plagued this great, free American public commons since it opened in 1976.

The bill (A-2189 and S-1449) also respects LSP’s 42-year history of sustained public opposition by caring citizens, putting democracy into action in statewide grassroots battles against privatization and in support of a free and green park.

Protection measures in the bill ensure that the future of Liberty State Park will be guided by a democratic and transparent public participation process in park decision-making and planning The bill also reinstates and revises an LSP Advisory Committee of park stewards and engages the public and the Committee in the review of any proposals or plans including the mandated creation of a management plan by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection to help guide the park’s future. The Act’s provisions leave open the possibility of “small scale, park-appropriate privatization plans,” which would be subject to public review.

Liberty State Park Supporters

The Liberty State Park Protection Act – Assembly bill A2189 and Senate bill S1449

Please take these important actions to advocate for the LSP Protection Act!

Please save any emails you write which are more than the basic sentence for you to adapt for future emails to legislators in moving the bill forward to the full Assembly and Senate passage of this historic bill.

Please call the office of Assemblyman Eric Houghtaling, Chair of the Assembly Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee at (732)  695-3371 or email [email protected] to ask that A-4903 be posted for a committee hearing as soon as possible.
Subject would best be:  Please post A-4903 for Committee hearing for LSP

We’ll find out soon about which Committee, the Senate bill, S3357 was assigned to and we’ll continue to update this page in the coming weeks and months as the bill moves forward in the Assembly and Senate.

It would also be helpful for you to email or call the primary sponsors of the bill to thank them for their leadership and allow their offices to record your support:
 Assemblyman and Majority Whip Raj Mukherji – (201) 626-4000 or [email protected]
Senator Sandra B. Cunningham – (201) 451-5100  or [email protected]

The other primary Assembly co-sponsors of A-2189 are Assemblywoman Angela V. McKnight and Assemblyman Nicholas Chiaravalloti
The current co-sponsor of the Senate bill is Senator Teresa Ruiz.

Letters to the Editor of The Jersey Journal will also be very helpful! The email address is  [email protected] These letters also get posted online.

THANK YOU for again standing up for LSP’s future as a free and green urban state park behind Lady Liberty and Ellis Island!!!

Resources