Photo courtesy of Game Time.
A wide, open space layered with grass, native plants and trees are rare in a city. And that’s why locals and environmental activists continuously fight for a place like Liberty State Park in Jersey City.
Liberty State Park celebrated its 50th anniversary on June 14. Slice of Culture spoke with Sam Pesin, the son of the park’s founder, and Stephanie Silva, the program director at Jersey City-based organization Team Wilderness, who both reflected on the transformation of Jersey City’s waterfront from an abandoned industrial rail yard into New Jersey’s first urban state park.
“The essence of park history is that many tens of thousands of people put democracy into action to fight for a free park behind the Statue of Liberty,” said Pesin, president of Friends of Liberty State Park and son of park founder Morris Pesin.
Opened on June 14, 1976, during the nation’s bicentennial celebrations, the park was the result of years of advocacy by local residents including Morris Pesin, Audrey and Warren Zapp, Theodore Conrad and J. Owen Grundy. Then Gov. Brendan T. Byrne dedicated the park as New Jersey’s bicentennial “gift to the nation.”
Before The Park
Before its transformation into Liberty State Park in 1976, the site served as a major industrial and transportation center during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Built on filled-in tidal marshes along the Hudson River, the area was dominated by rail yards, warehouses and shipping infrastructure that played a key role in moving people and goods through the region. Rather than being redeveloped for private industrial or commercial purposes, the land was converted into open green space, giving residents access to recreation, nature and waterfront views of the Statue of Liberty and Manhattan skyline.
The park also helped reclaim and revitalize a neglected area while becoming New Jersey’s first urban state park, demonstrating the value of preserving public space in densely populated cities.
The Citizens Who Made It Happen
From the 1970s to the present, public advocacy has played a critical role in shaping the future of Liberty State Park.
Through public hearings, grassroots campaigns and persistent community involvement, residents fought to preserve the waterfront as open public space rather than allow it to be commercialized. Advocates including Morris Pesin, Audrey Zapp, Warren Zapp, Theodore Conrad and J. Owen Grundy believed the Jersey City waterfront should belong to the public. Their efforts helped secure and preserve the land, ultimately transforming a neglected industrial site into New Jersey’s first urban state park and ensuring future generations would have access to open green space along the Hudson River.
In 1957, Morris Pesin visited the Statue of Liberty with his family and looked across New York Harbor at the abandoned rail yards and industrial shoreline of Jersey City. The trip inspired his vision for a waterfront park that would provide public access to the area and connect New Jersey residents to one of the nation’s most iconic landmarks.
“He looked and was struck by two things — that the Jersey City shoreline was this waterfront wasteland and that it would be great to have a park and access from New Jersey to the Statue of Liberty,” Sam Pesin said.
Protecting Public Space
Advocates say the struggle did not end once the park was created.
Over the decades, community members have fought proposals that would have commercialized portions of the park, including amusement parks, hotels, condominiums and other private developments.
“Parks are not supposed to make money. Parks are to serve people’s quality of life and bring people together,” Pesin said.
“The park is priceless and the park is sacred.”
Opening Day: June 14, 1976
On Flag Day June 14, 1976, the park was born.
Then-Gov. Brendan Byrne officially opened the park. This park was called a “gift to the nation.” Now New Jerseyans use the park daily and have a place to enjoy the outside that is not commercialized.
With more than 1,200 acres, a waterfront promenade, ferry access to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, recreation spaces and ongoing environmental and educational programs, it remains an important space to Jersey City residents.
Celebrating 50 Years
The 50th anniversary marks half a century since it first opened to the public.
Silva, the programming director at Team Wilderness, talked to Slice of Culture about how Liberty State Park continues to play an important role in connecting Jersey City youth with nature. Through Team Wilderness’s photography programs and outdoor activities, Silva said the park has given young people opportunities to experience wildlife and green space close to home.
“It just gave us a place to open up their eyes … to see nature in their city,” Silva said.
Silva said access to green space is especially important in urban communities where many young people have limited opportunities to interact with nature.
“A lot of our kids are living in neighborhoods in Jersey City that are so nature deprived,” Silva said. “The natural resources that Liberty State Park provides far outweigh the very concrete urban landscapes that they see every day.”
And this was a sentiment that Pesin echoed, “Every inch of the park is deserved by future generations.”
Silva further added that the park also offers young people an opportunity to disconnect from screens and connect with both nature and one another.
“Whenever there’s a quiet moment, the first instinct is to pull out your phone … we’re missing what’s right in front of us.”
– Stephanie Silva, program director at Team Wilderness
“… It’s people of all different backgrounds sharing this beautiful free space together… I hope young people not only come to enjoy Liberty State Park, but become involved in standing up for it.”
– Sam Pesin, president of Friends of LSP
Liberty State Park is currently undergoing an extensive revitalization project that aims to bring more recreation, arts, culture, education and more opportunities to the urban park. For latest updates or to see the master plan you can visit here.
For ways you can enjoy the park you can visit: https://dep.nj.gov/parksandforests/state-park/liberty-state-park/. For ways to get involved with advocacy and engagements for the park, you can check out: https://www.folsp.org/.
