Liberty State Park is located on Upper New York Bay in Jersey City, New Jersey, opposite the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. The park opened in 1976 to coincide with bicentennial celebrations[1] and is operated and maintained by the New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry.
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Liberty State Park is 1,212 acres (4.9 km²) in area. The main part of the park is bordered by water on three sides: on the north by the Morris Canal Big Basin and on the south and east by Upper New York Bay. The New Jersey Turnpike Newark Bay Extension (Interstate 78) marks its western perimeter.
The southern Caven Point section of the park is separated from the main part of the park by the Liberty National Golf Club and is accessible along the water's edge using the Hudson River Waterfront Walkway. The long thin pier at the foot of Chapel Avenue that was once part of the park has been demolished.
The Peninsula Park lies between the Big Basin of the Morris Canal and the Tidewater Basin in Paulus Hook. The Liberty Landing Marina is located on the Big Basin.
Most of the park's area is on landfill created by the Central Railroad of New Jersey (CRRNJ) and the Lehigh Valley Railroad, defunct companies whose lines once terminated there. In the northeast corner of the park is the CRRNJ Terminal, a historic transportation building. Ferries to Statue of Liberty National Monument, Ellis Island and Liberty Island depart from nearby.
Communipaw Cove is part of the 36-acre (150,000 m2) state nature preserve in the park and is one of the few remaining tidal salt marshes along the Hudson River estuary. The Interpretive Center, designed by architect Michael Graves, is part of the preserve. To the west lies the Interior Natural Area, which is off limits to the public and is being allowed through natural processes to recover from environmental abuse.[2]
A road called Freedom Way goes through the center and serves as a barrier between the area closed to the public to its west and the area that is open to the public to its east, with its many bike paths, walkways, and fields.
Liberty Walkway, a crescent-shaped promenade, stretches from the CRRNJ along the waterfront south to the Statue of Liberty overlook, bridging two coves along the way. It is part of the longer Hudson River Waterfront Walkway. Halfway along Liberty Walkway is a bridge to Ellis Island, but only authorized vehicles are allowed. The southeastern corner of the park contains the Statue of Liberty overlook, picnic facilities, a playground, the U.S. Flag Plaza and Liberation Monument, the Public Administration Building, and a memorial to the Black Tom explosions. Picnicking and barbecing facilities are also located at the southern end of the park.
The Liberty Science Center, at the northwestern entrance to the park, is an interactive science museum and learning center. The center opened in 1993 as New Jersey's first major state science museum. It has science exhibits, the world's largest IMAX Dome theater, numerous educational resources, and the original Hoberman sphere, a silver, computer-driven engineering artwork designed by Chuck Hoberman.[3]
Liberation is a bronze sculpture designed by Nathan Rapoport as a memorial to the Holocaust, showing a U.S. soldier carrying out a survivor from a Nazi death camp.[4]
Empty Sky is the official state memorial to the September 11 attacks of the World Trade Center. Situated on a berm the parallel walls engraved with the names of victims are oriented to face the former World Trade Center site. Designed by architect Frederic Schwartz, it was dedicated on September 10, 2011, commemorating the tenth anniversary.[5]
Much of the park is sited on landfilled tidal flats that formerly supported vast oyster banks as part of the territory of the Hackensack Indians, who called the area Communipaw and used it as a summer encampment. In the seventeenth century it became part of the colonial province of New Netherland, the patroonship Pavonia. The area was known as Jan the Lacher's Hook, so called for the man who was the bowery's second superintendent, Jan Everts Bout. For many years, the village, often referred to by Washington Irving, existed where the Liberty Science Center now stands. For hundreds of years it was a ferry port for local communities of Bergen, Bergen Township, and Hudson County, as well suburban and long-distance travelers to Manhattan.
In the latter half of 19th century it became major shipping, manufacturing, and transportation hub within New York Harbor, leading to the construction of Communipaw Terminal. It was from this ferry/train station that many immigrants arriving at Ellis Island spread out across the USA. In 1916, the Black Tom explosion on what is now the southeastern corner of the park killed as many as seven people, caused $20 million in property damage, and was felt throughout the Tri-State Region. Construction of the North River Tunnels, containerization, and the Interstate Highway System, made the area less viable. The decline of industry, deterioration of rail and maritime infrastructure, and toxic waste, eventually made the area obsolete. Abandoned buildings and brownfields dominated the landscape after the mid-twentieth century, though there was still some manufacturing and recreational use.
Audrey Zapp, Theodore Conrad, Morris Pesin[6][7] and J. Owen Grundy were influential environmentals and historians who spearheaded the movement that led to the creation of Liberty State Park.[8] They are remembered by the naming of places and streets along the waterfront.[9]
The Hudson-Bergen Light Rail runs just west the park with a station at its entrance. 305 Liberty State Park shuttle and 981 Port Liberté bus lines also stop there. Hornblower Cruises operates ferries to Ellis Island and Liberty Island, and a water taxi to Paulus Hook and the World Financial Center.
On Labor Day in 1980 future president Ronald Reagan made a campaign speech in his bid for election.[10]
On July 4, 1985, Daryl Hall and John Oates played an outdoor benefit concert for the restoration of the Statue of Liberty in front of an estimated 70,000 people at Liberty State Park. The concert was later re-played on HBO. In 2006, the park began to host the Liberty Jazz Festival. This two day event is normally held the first weekend after Labor Day each year and has included performers such as George Benson, Waymon Tisdale and a host of other celebrated jazz artists.
In 2000, Andrea Bocelli gave a concert at the park, broadcasted on PBS, as American Dream - the Statue of Liberty concert.[11]
In 2001, Cirque du Soleil premeiered its new work.[12] The Park was the site of the All Points West Music & Arts Festival festival, held from August 8–10, 2008, and hosted the festival again from July 31 - August 2, 2009, with such headlining acts as Jay-Z, Coldplay, Tool, and Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
In May 2010, plans were put forth outlining the use of the park as the new home of the United States Formula One Grand Prix for the 2012 season.[13] These plans met outrage from the community, particularly the Friends of Liberty State Park, and were ultimately rejected by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.[14]
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