01/07/2018

The Honorable Richard Hammer
Commissioner, NJDOT
P.O. Box 600
Trenton, NJ 08625
rick.hammer@dot.nj.gov

RE: Public Transportation along the Hudson River Waterfront
Union Dry Dock – Hoboken

Dear Mr. Hammer

The Hudson River Waterfront Conservancy (HRWC) is writing to prevent any actions by the NJ Department of Transportation at Union Dry Dock in Hoboken that would prevent or delay the completion of the Hudson River Waterfront Walkway including the sale of the Union Dry Dock (UDD) land to NJ Transit.

History of the Walkway
In 1984, New Jersey had the vision and long-term foresight to adopt legislation that created the legal basis for construction of an 18.6 mile waterfront walkway (The Walkway) from the Bayonne Bridge in Bayonne to the George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee. The State’s primary motivation for creating the Walkway at that time was recognition that someday transportation means would be needed to allow the public to move uninhibited along the waterfront. In 1984, the Hudson River waterfront was a huge jumble of abandoned rail yards, empty and decaying manufacturing facilities, sweatshop manufacturers and a very dangerous place for the public.

Fast forward 34 years and we have the “Gold Coast”, 18.6 miles of residential, commercial and retail complexes and, most important, parks and parkland for waterfront access and enjoyment by the public. Unfortunately, the creation of the Gold Coast has confirmed the foresight of the State from 1984 that transportation along the Waterfront is difficult and growing worse as the resident and employment populations and resulting automobile traffic continue to increase.

The Walkway Today
The 1984 regulations have proven successful and today the Walkway is 85-90% completed. Seven of the nine municipalities (Jersey City, Hoboken, Weehawken, West New York, Guttenberg North Bergen and Fort Lee) have largely completed Walkways with one huge exception, the Union Dry Dock property in Hoboken. UDD is the last remnant of a prior industrial age along the Hudson River waterfront and its demise shows that the waterfront is no longer the place for industry.

In Edgewater, where Hess Oil recently closed and sold their oil tank facility, the Walkway is over 70% complete with 6 new residential segments planned or under construction. And redevelopment investment is finally coming to Bayonne where several residential complexes and related Walkway segments are completed and more are being planned.

Role of the Walkway in Public Transportation
The early development of the Walkway provided isolated “patches” of Walkway which were used primarily for recreational use as the desolation of the waterfront began to disappear. However, over the last 10 years, as “patches” became “segments” and segments” became miles of completed Walkway, the primary use changed to public transportation. Today the Walkway is a vital and integrated public transportation link for commuters, shoppers and the public. This is especially true in Hoboken where huge numbers of Hoboken residents walk and bike to the commercial centers in Jersey City due to the nearly impossible traffic conditions along the waterfront roads. As Jersey City continues to grow as an economic engine of NJ, the Walkway is a vital public transportation artery allowing convenient and healthy access to employees from the largely residential towns on the Walkway to the north.

Union Dry Dock
The Union Dry Dock facility today blocks the Walkway and remains the single largest “gap” between Goldman Sachs in Jersey City and Edgewater, 15 miles north. Today walkers, bikers, skaters, baby strollers and wheelchairs moving in both directions are forced onto dangerous Sinatra Drive to pass UDD. Hoboken has tried to improve safety by restricting parking and added striping to reduce the danger but the public remains at risk as they pass UDD to reconnect with the Walkway on either side of UDD. The arguments being used by NJ Transit and NY Waterways (cost, employment and convenience) have been used by countless developers over the past 34 years to attempt to avoid and delay the Walkway construction. Fortunately, the courts, the legislatures and the various State administrations of both political parties have strongly upheld the 1984 regulations, the Public Trust Doctrine, and confirmed the wisdom of the State in 1984. As a result, the Walkway is today a public transportation and recreational link for hundreds of thousands of people that reside on or near the Hudson River waterfront. It is the model for modern waterfront development in other areas of NJ and across the country.

Recommendation
The Conservancy strongly recommends the rejection of the sale of Union Dry Dock to NJ Transit unless it includes a legally binding commitment to complete the Hudson River Waterfront Walkway before NY Waterways, or anyone else, begins any operations at UDD. Similar binding commitments have been used by the municipalities along the Walkway to accelerate construction of the Walkway.

Finally, the Conservancy would be most pleased to host a visit on the Waterfront for you and your staff for a firsthand view of the Walkway and its role in commuter and recreational public transportation.

Respectfully yours,

Don Stitzenberg
President
Hudson River Waterfront Conservancy

cc: HRWC Board
Hon. Ravi Bhalla – Mayor, City of Hoboken
NJ Transit Board – njtboard@njtransit.com
Paul Wyckoff, Deputy Executive Director NJ Transit – pwyckoff@njtransit.com
Eric Daleo, Assist ED of Capital Projects – edaleo@njtransit.com
John Leon, Government Relations NJ Transit – jleon@njtransit.com
Steven Santoro, Executive Director NJ Transit – ssantoro@njtransit.com
senweinberg@njleg.org
sengordon@njleg.org
asmcoughlin@njleg.org
asmmckeon@njleg.org
john.spinello@nj.gov