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| THE HARSIMUS STEM EMBANKMENT |
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| Embankment Preservation Coalition |
| The Harsimus Stem Embankment is an elevated stone structure that once carried seven tracks of the Pennsylvania Railroad to the Hudson River Waterfront. It runs for a half mile along 6th street in downtown Jersey City, and joins the National Historic districts of Hamilton Park and Harsimus Cove. The Embankment is itself listed on the State Register of Historic Places, is eligible for the National Register, and is a Municipal Landmark. The Embankment and streetscape will be a linchpin in a network of walkable, bikeable greenways within the City of Jersey City, and beyond. From north to south along Jersey Avenue, a main boulevard, the Embankment will serve as a midpoint in a series of parks, including Hamilton Park, Van Vorst Park, and Liberty State Park. From east to , west the Embankment will join the Hudson Waterfront Walkway with the Hackensack Meadowlands, via the Bergen Arches. A 2004 Northern New Jersey Route Study for the East Coast Greenway recommends this latter route as the main ECG pathway through Hudson County. The route has been endorsed by all six counties and 26 municipalities along it. |
| PRESS/ ARTICLES |
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| Please Patronize Our Business Sponsors! |
| GREAT NEWS |
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| October 20, 2011 - DEMOLITION PERMITS DENIED. The Jersey City Zoning Board of Adjustment voted 5 to 0 to deny applications by six Limited Liability Companies and their partner Conrail to demolish the Harsimus Branch Embankment. The decision came after summations by the Coalition's attorney, Janine Bauer of Szaferman LaKind Blumstein & Blader, and by the attorney for the LLCs. In hearings that stretched over more than a year, the Board heard numerous expert witnesses and reviewed thousands of document pages to reach its decision. Among reasons for the denial, several commissioners cited the importance to the city of the Embankment, as expressed by citizens during the public comment portion of the hearings. It was gratifying to hear the commissioners validate the importance of your voices in their decision,. |
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| Images by Cassandra Wilday, Demetri Sarantitis and Jason Gould CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMAGES |
| Past Events and Outreach |
| Rails to-Trails Conservancy
- Sept 2011 High Hopes for the Harsimus Embankment: The Fight to Create an Elevated Rail-Trail in New Jersey, by Jake Lynch |
| Friday, February 3, 2012. In a decision issued today, the U.S. Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit, gives the City opportunities to pursue remedies for Conrail's premature sale of the Harsimus Branch. The decision reverses the previous dismissal by the U.S. District Court, D.C., of a suit brought by the City, Rails to Trails Conservancy, and the Embankment Preservation Coalition.
Click to Read the opinion and rejoice! Nothing we can say here does a better job of summarizing the case and the history than the decision itself. |
| CURRENT |
| May 21, 2012 - 7 to 9 pm Highway Under the Hudson: A History of the Holland Tunnel National Park Service historian and urban planner Robert W. Jackson told the story of the construction of the Holland Tunnel to an overflow audience at the Barrow Mansion theater in May. with support from Jersey City Landmarks Conservancy. |
| Jersey Journal - Feb 4, 2012 Federal Appeals Court rules Jersey City has standing in Embankment Case |
| February 8, 2012. The Jersey City Municipal Council unanimously approved a settlement tonight that would enable the City to acquire and preserve five Harsimus Branch Embankment blocks and additional transportation corridor easements, and that would end all litigation over the Embankment. Now the only party left to approve is Conrail. |
| City Council Votes 9-0 to Authorize Settlement |
| Huge Win in Federal Court! Appeals Court Decides City Has Standing |
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| Wall Street Journal -Feb 7, 2012 High Line Hopes in Jersey City |
| HLB: February 8, 2012 - A Step forward for Jersey City |
| March 22, 2012 - 7-9P High Line Talk
Melissa Fisher, Chief Operating Officer of Friends of the High Line, gave an illustrated talk on the recently published book High Line: An Insider's Guide to New York City's Park in the Sky to 100 Embankment Preservation Supporters at the Historic Barrow Mansion. We thank Melissa, Robert Hammond and all of the people at the High Line who made this hugely successful program possible. Thanks also to our Co-sponsor, Barrow Mansion Development Corp., and to Harsimus Cove Association for its support. |
| October 14, 2012. Benefit Concert Amelia Hollander Ames and Mazz Swift of Con Vivo wowed a full house of Embankment preservation supporters Sunday with a 5th Street chamber music performance. The pair played pieces by Jean Baptiste Le Clair, Max Reger, and John Lennon/Paul McCartney. Highlights included an improvisation by Mazz and three Mozart pieces arranged by William Lincer and Amelia. |
| November 21, 2012
Conservation Resources Inc. announced that the Embankment Preservation Coalition is among 22 organizations that have been awarded a 2012 Franklin Parker Small Grant.. According to CRI president Michael Catania, these organizations “demonstrate a commitment to innovative conservation in New Jersey." |
| November 11, 2012
Embankment Preservation Coalition volunteers were among the 400 people who showed up at Liberty State Park on this sunny day to address the ravages of Superstorm Sandy. Sandy dumped five feet of water into the beautiful Central Rail Terminal and wreaked destruction through much of the park. Recovery is estimated to take more than $10 million and nine months of work. Many volunteers were overheard saying they would come back to do more when called by the Friends of Liberty State Park, which is devoted to the care of the park. |
| October 27, 2012
More than 1000 volunteers planted 50,000 tulip and narcissus bulbs around Jersey City as part of The Big Dig, the second annual bulb planting organized by the Jersey City Parks Coalition and the City of Jersey City. Members of the Embankment Preservation Coalition pitched in, gathering at the Jersey City and Harsimus Cemetery to beautify this historic place adjacent to the old Harsimus Branch rail line. Students and their elders from all over the city planted bulbs in dozens of parks and public spaces, and afterwards celebrated with lunch and tours of the Liberty Science Center. All Jersey City residents and visitors will be able to enjoy the flowering of this community-spirited endeavor in the spring. |