That part of NJ has changed a lot since then too. All the factories and industry that lined the Hudson are long gone. It's basically just the old Hess oil depot land that's left undeveloped, and even that got approved for a project after soil remediation is complete (which is admittedly a slow process). They fairly recently tore down an old driving range next to it too, but it's been sitting undeveloped for a while, likely due to the environmental clean up from the next lot. Aside from that it's actually really nice around there now.

Great picture. Looking out my window the skyline still looks odd without them.

Maybe, but probably not. You still have to carry the requisite amount of energy to fly the trip, regardless if that energy is kerosene, lithium batteries, or whatever. Rapid, unplanned disassembly of the aircraft will release that energy. And if lithium is used, the fires burn hotter (2000F) than kerosene, so the steel would likely fail faster and the buildings would have collapsed sooner.