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skaleywags t1_jdm72dl wrote

Liberty National is hosting an LPGA event in May where the top 24 junior female players in the country get to compete with the LPGA pros. That's kinda cool. The fact is the place was a total dump before the golf course. Hell, there's an argument that the entirety of Jersey City has gotten significantly better and more livable since the investment was made to build the course and beautify LSP. There are about 25 people in LSP at any given time...making more to do and easier access might be great for the park. Either way, bringing professional golf events to JC has clearly done some good. I really don't understand how of the zillions of rich assholes galavanting around the NYC area doing horrible things for their own benefit, this one gets so much attention. I see a lot of positive that has come from Fireman wanting to invest in JC. Sure, he certainly benefits from it, but that's what capitalism is. It's not my favorite but we live in America and that is how it is. There are so many deplorable hills to climb and die on, why choose one that is helping your town?

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nuncio_populi OP t1_jdm837p wrote

This is the most deranged and easily disposed of take I’ve heard yet. Fireman’s exclusive golf course whose membership is limited to 250 people has somehow brought about the revitalization of Jersey City? GTFO here.

LSP is the most visited state park with over six million annual visitors, which is why the DEP wanted to finish the job of environmental remediation, wildlife restoration, and addition of more public active recreation for the benefit of all New Jerseyans. Instead, Paul Fireman has consistently derailed those efforts with his various attempts to take the park’s land for his own.

This park is for the enjoyment of the people of New Jersey; not for Paul Fireman’s personal gain.

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skaleywags t1_jdmjmgb wrote

Yeah, lots of people were really enjoying the area prior to the investment.... The place was a waste dump, now Jersey City has hosted The Barclay's, The President's Cup, the Northern Trust, The ICONS Series, and this year the Mizuho America's Open. These are all open to the public. The membership is not capped at 250, but that doesn't really matter for this conversation. Say what you want about inequality, but you live in the NYC area. It is going to be rampant here. You live ~10 miles from BILLIONAIRE'S ROW. What do you expect? Why don't we focus on the things that are making this town worse? JCPD is absolutely useless. 911 calls are not being picked up. Traffic is a god damn nightmare. I get that this issue has tons of buzz words and it feels like injustice, but say what you want, the golf course has helped the city of Jersey City.

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nuncio_populi OP t1_jdmrvnu wrote

This “waste dump” has been home to hundreds of thousands of New Jerseyans, including friends and family.

Sure, Jersey City has had a Renaissance but it isn’t due to Fireman, golf, and the PGA. It is they who have benefited from us; not us who have benefited from them.

Your jefe Paul Fireman took over $200 million to build his golf course. Forget eminent domain, we’ve already paid for the land. He should either pay the money back or “donate” his golf course to LSP.

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nuncio_populi OP t1_jdmqm5z wrote

Oh, I’ll just drop this here… Fireman used taxpayer money to help build his golf course. And lots of it:

“The cost of cleanup was picked up by taxpayers, and the developer would be allowed to build a course atop the site at its own expense, under strict regulations. In recent years, Liberty National's price tag has been reported as $250 million. About 90 percent of that figure were Superfund cleanup costs.”

We should send him the tab to the tune of $200 million plus interest.

https://www.golfdigest.com/story/the-presidents-cup-on-the-hudson

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