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Liberty State Park
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Liberty State Park is a state park in Jersey City, New Jersey. It has a coastline along the Hudson River with views of the Manhattan skyline, the Statue of Liberty, and Ellis Island. (Battery Park and the World Financial Center are the closest parts of New York to the park.) The park is operated and maintained by the New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry.
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Liberty State Park is 1,212 acres (4.9 km²) in area, and takes up a big chunk of the Jersey City waterfront. It is bordered to the north by the Morris Canal Big Basin, to the south and east by the Hudson River, and to the west by Jersey City. There are 2 small sections of Liberty State Park that are connected to Caven Point and not connected to the rest of the park. One is connected to northern Caven Point and the other is a thin pier that extends out from Chapel Avenue (both are south of the rest of park. Each of the 2 sections are separated from each other and divided from the park by a body of water.)
Most of the park's area is on man-made land filled in by the Central Railroad of New Jersey and the Lehigh Valley Railroad, now-defunct companies whose lines once terminated there.
In the northeast corner of the park is the CRRNJ (Central Railroad of New Jersey) Terminal, a historic transportation building. About half of the park is currently not open to public access, and of that one third is industrial. But most of the park is superb with great views of New York and lots of open space. The areas that are open to the public are along the borders. A road called Freedom Way goes through the center and serves a barrier between the area not open to the public to the west of it and the area that is open to the public to the east, with many bikepaths, walkways, and fields. One of those walkways in the eastern section of the park is Liberty Walkway, a long path that stretches from the CRRNJ along the waterfront south to the Statue of Liberty overlook, bridging over two coves along the way. Halfway along 'Liberty Walkway' is a bridge that connects from Liberty State park to Ellis Island, but only authorized vehicles are allowed. The southeastern corner of the park contains the Statue of Liberty overlook, picnic facilities, a playground, the U.S. Flag Plaza, and Liberation Monument. The Public Administration Building is also in this area (Morris Pesin Drive leads from out of the park from the Administration Building. Morris Pesin Drive also has the park's mailing address). Despite all the scenery, the Liberty Science Center is probably the biggest attraction, with floors of exhibits, the biggest Hoberman sphere in the world and the biggest Kodak Omni Theatre IMAX dome screen in the country.
In 1916, the Black Tom Explosion on what is now the southeastern corner of the park killed as many as seven people, caused $20 million in property damage, and was felt throughout the New York area.
- Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal
- Friends of Liberty State Park, an advocacy group for the park's preservation
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(County seat: Jersey City) |
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| Cities | Bayonne | Hoboken | Jersey City | Union City |  |
| Townships | North Bergen | Weehawken | |
| Towns | Guttenberg | Harrison | Kearny | Secaucus | West New York | |
| Borough | East Newark | |
| Communities | Exchange Place | Greenville | Liberty State Park | Newport | Paulus Hook | |