- 10/23/24 The
Jersey City Times by
Ron Leir "Liberty
State Park Group Opposes Elimination of Free Parking Lot, Supports DEP
Plan Overall"
Sam Pesin lauded DEP Shawn LaTourette and his staff and the consultants
for being “responsive to the 5,000 public comments DEP received about
preserving open space and unstructured recreation. We look forward to
the public weighing in on more final proposals early in 2025.” FOLSP
took issue with what it called the consultants’ “ill-conceived,
unrealistic proposal to eliminate the very useful free 2-hour lot by the
Terminal." Pesin
also notes that FOLSP is strongly
opposed to the large area taken by three proposed North Cove beaches,
including a beach umbrella beach, next to the “un-swimmable” river and
“taking away lawn space on which people can play, picnic, catch sun
rays, or get shade under trees.”
- 5/22/24 The Jersey Journal
Op-ed by Bill Vibbert, LSP's first superintendent
"LSP retrospective: The vision emerges"
Bill Vibbert served as the LSP superintentend
from 1969 to 1976. "At that moment, the Liberty Park vision shifted
from an urban-developed plan including restaurants and boutiques
submitted by the consultantsto a park featuring no only the major themes
of transportation, immigration and liberty, but also recreation and
protecting the remarkable wildlife resources that were everywhere. I
remember Commissioner Sullivan saying, "We're not doing that, wer are
going to connect the park to the residents." The (NJDEP) vision
from that moment became natural, cultural and historic resources and
passive recreation. (in 1978, the completed Geddes Master Plan after
dozens of public meetings, was approved by the NJDEP for a free and
green Central Park-type park).
- 6/8/24 NJ
Spotlight News (PBS) by Senior
Political Correspondent David
Cruz on his weekly show
"Reporters Roundtable" His
one minute editorial comment on"The most Jersey thing covered in past
political year". Starts at 23 minutes and 50 seconds into the video.
"Mine was from Hudson County where I covered meetings on redevelopment
of LSP. It is so NJ that an out-of-town billionaire golf course owner
would lay down millions of dollars to essentially buy off elected
officials in an effort to convince local residents that the NJ DEP has a
plan to flood the park and by extension, the surrounding community of
longtime poor and working-class residents. The lie is one thing because
– that’s not the plan at all - but those elected officials who
perpetuate the lie deserve a “Bronx Cheer” or more appropriately the
“Jersey State Bird” which nests nearby in the bird sanctuary that the
billionaire wants to pave over".
- 5/23/24 The Jersey Journal by
Mark Koosau "Declaring
victory: DEP’s redesign plan for Liberty State Park survives, despite
billionaire’s efforts"
"In spite of months of pressure from some members of his own task force
and hundreds of thousands of dollars in outside lobbying efforts, the
state official (DEP Commissioner Shawn LaTourette) refused to bend. The
People’s Park Foundation and Liberty State Park For All, headed by Hall
of Fame basketball coach Bob Hurley and former Rutgers’ football star
Elnardo Webster, respectively, have argued to convert the park into a
super-sized athletic complex with a stadium and arena that would seat
thousands.The
three-phase revitalization of the park that started last October
includes remediation and restoration of the 234-acre contaminated
interior with wetlands and meadows, as well as athletic facilities and
other features on the northern and southern ends of the state park.
LaTourette said he expects to have plans for the northern end of the
park along Audrey Zapp Drive retooled... He
added that public engagement will continue and expects the next open
house on the park to be held by September. “Public
involvement in the coming months, with the consultants’ revised and
narrowed-down proposals, continues to be crucial, and I have faith that
(LaTourette), with the governor’s support, will listen to the voice of
the people in shaping the park’s future,” Pesin said.
-
5/19/24 Jersey City Times Op-Ed
by Eric Allen Connor "Fireman
and His Puppets Pose a Continuing Threat to Liberty State Park"
Fireman
and his puppets have waged war on the DEP, the Friends of Liberty State
Park, and the people of Jersey City. In 2022, Fireman-backed groups
lobbied legislators in Trenton to pass a bill that killed the protection
act and threatened to open the park up to commercialization. They have
run a disinformation campaign through text messages and social media
claiming that the DEP is racist, that the agency is trying to flood the
park, and that there will be no sports or community amenities allowed in
the park. Each and every one of those claims were lies. Jersey City
residents have suffered because of Fireman’s petulance and his
associates’ greed. Fireman-backed organizations like the People’s Park
Foundation and Liberty State Park for All spent millions of dollars
trying to use public money to build a garish and expensive sports and
entertainment complex on public parkland. The people of New Jersey have
overwhelmingly rejected those plans at every turn.- 5/13/24 Jersey City Times by Aaron Morrill "LaTourette Rules Out Fireman’s Plan for Liberty State Park Interior"
"At an open house on Saturday, Commissioner of Environmental Protection Shawn M. LaTourette ruled out a plan put forward by
billionaire Paul Fireman to build a stadium complex in LSP's interior. Asked in an interview if he was confident that DEP plan, which
includes walking and bike trails as well as wetland restoration (and meadows), would come to fruition, LaTourette didn't mince words.
"Of course I'm confident because I've already paid for it and it's already under construction...There's no question in my or the
governor's mind that this is happening." "Said Sam Pesin, President of Friends of LSP, of the gathering "The Commissioner is
providing essential democratic participation opportunities at this major crossroads of DEP's Revitalization process to shape LSP's
future. It's reprehensible that Bob Hurley and Elnardo Webster Jr., heads of billionaire Paul Fireman's two front groups and members
of the Fireman-stacked task force, who push lies for their privatization goal of an exclusionary, destructive Sports and Entertainment
Complex, didn't attend."
- 4/9/24 The Jersey Journal by
Mark Koosau "DEP
asks LSP task force: What kind of fields, courts are needed"
LaTourette said Liberty State Park can contribute, but ultimately cannot
solve the city’s recreational space problems. However, he reminded city
and school district officials that the DEP can help them acquire land
for such needs.Sam Pesin said “it’s great and essential that so many
spoke wisely and passionately in continuing the 47 years of the broad
public consensus for a free and green Central Park-type park and against
commercialization and privatization.”
- 4/9/24 The Jersey City Times by
Aaron Morrill and Ryan Kilkenny "Jackie
Robinson’s Granddaughter Echoes Fireman-Funded Group’s Talking Points"
The featured speaker during last night’s Zoom meeting, Robinson, like
the People’s Park Foundation, criticized the DEP’s wetland restoration
and flood resilience plan for
part of the park’s interior. Sam Pesin, president of Friends of LSP,
called in to praise DEP Commissioner Shawn LaTourette’s work on
progressing the park’s revitalization, noting that it includes about 60
acres of recreational space. Pesin encouraged Robinson to speak directly
with LaTourette about the interior and revitalization process. He
suggested that the foundation consider donating through the New Jersey
State Parks and Open Space Foundation.“I have faith that this DEP is
going to do the right thing,” said Pesin, noting the potential for the
park interior to be a “nature wonderland.”
- 4/8/24 The Jersey Journal guest
column by Nick Lawrence Don’t
fall for disinformation - DEP’s vision for LSP is the right one
- 4/7/24 The
Jersey City Times by
Aaron Morrill "How
Much Active Recreation Does LSP Need? No One Knows - The
LSP Design Task Force is being asked to weigh in on plans for athletic
facilities without essential information.