The Embattled Embankment

Sixth Street Embankment file photo

The Sixth Street Embankment, a target of preservationists and developers alike has had some problems in recent weeks. Yesterday chunks of the stone wall began falling from the section west of Erie Street. The fire department cordoned off the corner to protect pedestrians.

Several weeks earlier the embankment, the section of the Embankment at Marin Blvd caught fire.

The Sixth Street embankment once supported eight elevated rail lines connecting the Jersey City waterfront with rail cuts through the Palisades Cliffs and served as one of several conduits for goods coming and going from the port and industrial complexes along the river. The tracks have long since been abandoned.

In more recent years, developer Steve Hyman has been attempting to gain approval to construct housing either on top of the embankment or on the property after removing the structure. Local preservationists would like the embankment converted to an elevated park, similar to New York's High Line Park, now under construction and set to open this summer.

The main point of contention in the struggle has been an illegal sale of the property by Conrail to Hyman; railroad properties, particularly right of ways, must follow a specific process before being sold off as private property.

In addition to Hyman's plan to construct housing on the property, Mayor Healy has floated using the property for an extension of the light rail system, connecting the waterfront to the Secaucus Transfer station via the Bergen Arches. The plan would provide mass transit access to the Heights neighborhood.

In an attempt to appease Healy's administration, Hyman then floated a plan to construct both housing and a light rail line connected to Journal Square.

Preservation groups insist on building a park and no light rail line.

Poll Lines Two Blocks Long

Polls have been open for two hours in Jersey City and lines at polling places are two blocks long and continuing to grow. Turn out will clearly be astronomically high.

Knitting Cafe to Replace Failed Deli on Jersey Avenue

The Stockinette, a knitting cafe, will open in a store front on Jersey Avenue at Third Street. The long vacant storefront had been home to the mythical Gabagoolz Italian Deli, a store that never seemed to be opened, but took years to officially close. The Stockinette also has a website.

Zoning Board Delays on Boniface Conversion

The renovation of Saint Boniface from an abandoned Catholic Church into 21 residential apartments was dealt a setback when the zoning board delayed action until September. Local residents who are under the impression they live in Jersey Suburb rather than Jersey City are concerned about the lack of parking. Fliers from local activists have littered the streets around the church, including taped to trees.

The Harsimus Cove Association is hosting a special meeting to attempt to work out concerns residents have with the developer.

La Rustique Open for Business

La Rustique pizzeria has officially opened for business at its new location at Fifth Street and Jersey Avenue. The former Paulus Hook favorite moves to the Harsimus Cove neighborhood, occupying a retail space that once housed GO, a gourmet cheese shop known for selling goods past their sell by dates.

The pizza's thin crust, fresh mozzarella, and sweet tomato sauce is hard to beat, and a serious loss for Paulus Hook residents. The Paulus Hook location was shuttered a few days ago. Rumor has it, the landlord is looking to open his own eatery.

For now, only pizza is available, either by the slice or as a pie. Customers should for now head straight to the side of the building on Fifth Street, where they will find a friendly pizza maker. The cafe portion of the restaurant on the corner of Jersey Avenue will eventually serve sandwiches and Italian dishes but will not open until after Independence Day.

Unicorns Attract Attention

A JCLister posted a photo of the Fourth Street Unicorn. This in turn lead to semi-relevant blog Boing Boing picking up the story. This in turn lead us to those responsible for the unicorn, a seemingly hipsterific community of artists, The Agitators. The Agitators described themselves as "a collective of vibrant individuals setting out to engage the Jersey City community as a creative asset."

Who knew?

Traffic Accidents Pile Up On Erie Street

Sunday morning began as a typical day in the neighborhood-- screeching rubber, scraping metal, and the clatter of a car jumping the curb. Serious traffic accidents have become all too typical along Erie Street with Sunday's wreck only the latest on this quiet residential street in Harsimus Cove.





At the corner of Second and Erie Streets, two vehicles collided sending one over the curb and into the fence of Grace Van Vorst Church. Early last summer, at the very same spot, a small vehicle was spun completely around. Then there was the accident this past autumn at Third and Erie with one car jettisoned into the wall of a house. Below, the dented wall and the smashed fence on the northwest corner of Third and Erie.





In the past year, we've personally observed four serious accidents at these two intersections alone, and its not as though we are hanging around Erie Street waiting for cars to jump curbs. The commonality between all the accidents has been a car heading north on Erie, usually speeding, colliding with a car at the cross streets.

Certainly speeding drivers are largely responsible. But also at fault are cars parked to the very corner of the streets, preventing drivers on both streets from seeing on coming cars until its too late. The curbs at these intersections were at one time painted red-- probably shortly after the city was founded four hundred years ago, and then forgotten about. Many of the curbs around the street corners have been replaced, and never repainted; for the rest, the paint is so faded its almost as though they were never painted at all.

In the short term, the city needs to repaint no parking zones on street corners. This clearly is a safety issue, not only for drivers, but for pedestrians as well. Imagine for instance, a pedestrian caught underneath a car-- below, the remains of the iron fence:





But repainting curb corners does not provide a long term solution. One alternative would be installation of speed bumps on Erie Street. However, speed humps spaced too far apart won't inhibit speeding, and spaced too close together would greatly impede traffic flow. An alternative solution is construction of bulb-outs, also known as curb extensions. Curb extensions literally extend the curb and sidewalk at street corners. This is a multifaceted approach. First, cars are unable to park too closely to the corner because street space becomes an elevated sidewalk. Second, drivers perceive the street as more narrow, naturally causing them to slow down. A third benefit is shortening the distance between curbs for pedestrians, though this benefit is best realized at larger avenues. Bulb outs are not unprecedented in Jersey City. Below, a small bulb out in Paulus Hook, on Morris Street.





Regardless of the final solution, something needs to be done. Only coincidence has kept pedestrians out from under careening cars to date; eventually the city will be scraping bodies off the sidewalk.

New Embankment Plan Promises Compromise, 1,000 Units

Long a rallying cry for preservationists in the downtown, the Sixth Street Embankment has been the focus of a legal fight since developer Steve Hyman set his eye on the site. Advocates looking to save historic Jersey City have been fighting to preserve the structure and convert it to a park; others want the structure removed, and the land converted to open space, and then of course Hyman wants to build residential apartments on the property, and lets not forget Mayor Healy's plan to restore rail service-- adding a light rail line from Newport to Secaucus.

Complicating the issue is the land's status as former railroad right away. The federal government regulates railroads and right aways cannot simply be sold. A recent federal ruling declared the original sale to Hyman invalid, but that does not entirely prevent a future sale. Preservation activists want the city to buy the land or seize it through eminent domain. Either method would incur huge expenses for the city.

Mayor Healy last year announced his intentions to pursue a plan to build a light rail connection from the waterfront to the Secaucus transfer station. The line would improve transportation alternatives for many parts of Jersey City. Parts of Hamilton Park and western portions of the downtown are more than a half mile from a train station and Healy's proposed route through the arches could also allow access to residents along 139. The line would also provide another alternative route between NJ Transit trains and the Hudson waterfront; now commuter rail connects via the PATH at Newark Penn or heavy rail to Hoboken. NJTransit's stance is that they have no plans to build this spur.

Original plans by the developer sought to remove the embankment entirely and build low rise town homes along the entire length of the embankment from Marin Blvd to Brunswick. Immediately this plan faced opposition with critics citing density, lack of preservation, and general outrage at proposed changes. Activists sought to landmark the embankment, and the follow up plan included simply building the town homes on top of the wall.

Now the Jersey Journal is reporting a new plan being put forth by Hyman as a compromise. In essence, the new plan leverages activists' desire for preserving the embankment for higher density zoning. The new plan calls for a total of five buildings with 1,100 units of housing. Four of the buildings would be erected atop the embankment and a fifth on the block west of Brunswick Street. Yet three quarters of the embankment would end up as open space, and for Healy, Hyman including plans to connect a light rail line to Journal Square.

Local activists have already declared the new plan unacceptable, which means in all likelihood, the only definite is plenty more litigation.

Community Garden Sabotaged By Activist

After seven years of planting flowers and vegetables in the downtown of Jersey City, the Brunswick Street Community Garden may be coming to a bitter end. In identical posts on JCList and Wired JC, community activist Janet Allen is accused of spitefully terminating the garden group's lease for the plot of land. The city, believing the group was no longer interested in maintaining the garden, began the process of accepting new bids for the property, according to the online post.

Allen has been active in Hamilton Park neighborhood group for a number of years, most recently squabbling with local officials and community members over renovation plans for Hamilton Park. Those much needed renovations have been delayed after a March meeting. She was also instrumental in the posting of signs banning ball playing.

Since the accusations were levied against Allen, the only response has been through yet another online message board. The unofficial response comes from Newport Waterfront Association / Newport Neighborhood Association leader Sonia Maldonado claims Allen "no longer wishes to continue doing any work with the New Brunswick Community Garden."

There is likely more here than meets the eye, and some suspect Allen is attempting to seize control of the property through another organization which she controls. In either case, we doubt this is the last we've heard of the community garden saga.

From the Blogosphere

Tris McCall has moved to the lovely Harsimus Cove area and is back to posting. And as if to answer Tris's question as to where all the Jersey City bloggers are, we came across Jersey City Baby, a blog by and about a Jersey Cityean. The NEW Blog came across a little bit of an Architectural Love Fest thanks to Rem Koolhaus, still.

Meanwhile, north of the Holland Tunnel, Hoboken Hero has scaled the Palisades and taken some photos of Metro Stop. Hoboken411 cautions us that ShopRite's delivery trucks are out to destroy your car, and The Hoboken Blog wants Mayor Roberts to resign.

8 Towers, Park, Retail Planned for Metro Plaza

The architectural firm Arquitectonica has posted new renderings of the Metropolitan, the 67 story tower planned for the northeast corner of the Metro Plaza shopping center where Pep Boys is now. Included with the renderings on the architect's website is a short description:

"A total of eight residential buildings are planned, which surround a newly developed park... Retail lines the park and the newly created boulevard, offering both boutique and big box options"

Via Wired Forums

Fulop Calls Bullshit On Lipski's Embankment Maneuver

The Sixth Street Embankment controversy continued as the council attempted to vote on an ordinance requiring developer Steve Hyman to prove Conrail granted the city an opportunity to buy the property-- a ploy that is likely only intended to stall redevelopment of the embankment in the hopes of deterring Hyman from building condos. Lipski, who was not at the meeting, tabled the vote through Councilman Gaughan by informing him there was "new information." Downtown councilman Steve Fulop referred to the maneuver by the highly technical term: "bullshit." Literally.

Embankment Meetings

For those of you concerned about the fate of the 6th Street embankment, Jersey City Vibe has listed serveral key meeting dates. Whether you want to see a park, parking lot, or condos on the site of the embankment, it might do you well to attend.

Sixth Street Still In the News, Lawsuits Promised

By now, everyone should be aware that developer Steve Hyman wants to turn Sixth Street in housing. The City has promised it can stop the development if they want, and Hyman has promised lawsuits for the next three centuries. Jersey City Vibe has drawn comparisons to the 111 controversy.

All this talk of the embankment leaves us wondering if we couldn't come up with some ideas of our own:

Elevated Housing
Since the embankment is historic, the develper could restore the structure and build his houses along the top. Since most of the surrounding neighborhoods are only three and four stories tall, these elevated houses would have a great view of the city.

Car Park
Lots of people have mentioned tearing down the embankment and building a park. Why not build parking instead? Demand for parking in the downtown has only increased, and we're certain many of the area residents would be happy to have a gauranteed parking space when they came home at night.

Cross Town Freeway
Traffic has been increasing in downtown too, so its probably long overdue to build another highway. A spur could be dropped from the Turnpike and run over the existing sixth street embankment directly to the Newport Mall, there by relieving congestion of weekend shoppers who flock there hoping to buy socks and scented candles.

Before you post your nasty comments, let us say our suggestions are in jest. Can you blame us for having a little fun?