Two Easy Ways to Protect Liberty State Park

Submitted by nuncio_populi t3_12418wl in jerseycity

Friends, New Jerseyans, netizens, lend me your computers...

There are two easy ways to contact your elected officials to ask them to protect Liberty State Park: 1) reach out online and 2) call!

I am providing links and phone numbers for you to reach out to your representatives about Liberty State Park at state, local, and federal levels.

State: Contact form / Telephone

Gov. Phil Murphy / 1-609-292-6000 - Takes donations from Fireman

Department of Environmental Protection

Senator Nicholas Scutari / (732) 827-7480

Senator Brian Stack / (201) 721-5263 - Takes donations from Fireman (Note: Stack tries to play both sides but he sponsored last year's bill that kick-started the latest development push)

Senator Sandra Cunningham / (201) 451-5100 - Takes donations from Fireman (Note: Is not running for re-election, see: Raj Mukherji)

Senator Nicholas Sacco / (201) 295-0200 - Takes donations from Fireman (Note: Is not running for re-election)

Assemblyman Craig Coughlin / (732) 855-7441 - Takes donations from Fireman

Assemblyman Raj Mukherji / (201) 626-4000 - Takes donations from Fireman (Note: Is running for senate but has generally been a friend to the park, sponsoring the protection act)

Assemblywoman Annette Chaparro / (201) 683-7917 - Takes donations from Fireman

Assemblywoman Angela McKnight / (201) 360-2502 - Sponsored last year's bill to develop the park

Assemblyman William Sampson IV / (201) 455-2966

Local: Contact form / Telephone

Mayor Steven Fulop / (201) 547-5200 - Fireman helped pay for his trip to Paris but he has statewide ambitions.

James Solomon / (201) 547-5315

Frank Gilmore / (201) 547-5338

Federal: Contact form / Telephone

Senator Cory Booker / (973) 639-8700

Senator Robert Menendez the Elder / (973) 645-3030

Congressman Robert Menendez the Lesser / (202) 225-7919

The most important items on this list are Phil Murphy's office, Senators Stack and Cunnigham, your Assembly people, Assemblyman Mukherji who has been a strong ally to the park, and probably Mayor Fulop (who has statewide aspirations).

By emailing and calling to voice your displeasure with the DEP's delay due to interference from Paul Fireman and the People's Park Foundation, you let them know their constituents are unhappy. If you are feeling particularly motivated, write letters to the editors at local newspapers. This helps increase the risk of a P.R. nightmare. Call people out by name who have taken Fireman money, especially Gov. Murphy and Mayor Fulop because of their grand ambitions.

Feel free to customize your own message but here is some sample text if you want to copy and paste:

Dear {Rep Name},

I am concerned about the outlandish plans being pushed by the People's Park Foundation that will irrevocably damage Liberty State. The park has been a critical refuge for residents, visitors, and wildlife for generations.

I was eager to hear the DEP's recommendations to create wildlife sanctuaries, hiking trails, community rec fields, an outdoor amphitheater, and a restored cultural center at the old train station. Unfortunately, Commissioner LaTourette had to cancel his big community event because Paul Fireman's associates at the People's Park Foundation and LSP4All were apparently unhappy that private developers wouldn't get the chance to build massive stadiums and generate revenue from a public resource.

I am writing because I want you to protect every inch of Liberty State from Caven Point to the northern tidal basin from commercialization and overdevelopment. Liberty State should be a free, open, and accessible part of our community that balances the needs of conservation and outdoor recreation.

Sincerely,

{Your Name}

Note: I would love for you all to write your own variations of the above and post them in the comments. People can take inspiration from others and craft a better message. I am not a great writer so would welcome the chance to improve messaging!

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Comments

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HappyArtichoke7729 t1_jdxbozk wrote

You deserve a medal for this post

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EyesOnImprovement t1_jdyojlh wrote

Sure, a participation medal. If this is the level of opposition to park privatization then we may as well hand it over to Fireman now with a nice bow tied around it.

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nuncio_populi OP t1_jdziew8 wrote

Message everyone on this list and then get out and plan our next move to oppose these development efforts. Somewhere else on this thread we're talking about creating flyers to counter the People's Park narrative. If you have an idea, let's hear it!

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EyesOnImprovement t1_jdzk4kp wrote

Yeah, flyers. That should bring Fireman to his knees. What's next? A petition?

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nuncio_populi OP t1_jdzke8h wrote

We are truly open to all ideas. Please, let us hear yours!

Right now we are trying to 1) let our elected leaders know our displeasure and 2) raise awareness so this becomes a bigger issue.

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gigiwasabi_jc t1_jdzxc4f wrote

What’s your better idea(s)? Genuine question, not being sarcastic.

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HappyArtichoke7729 t1_je0sc8g wrote

I agree with you somewhat, but OP is trying to help. You're not. Where are YOUR suggestions on what to do?

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nuncio_populi OP t1_jdxaf5p wrote

u/mooseLimbsCatLicks — Can we get this pinned to the top of the subreddit? This is the contact and outreach content we discussed in another thread.

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mooseLimbsCatLicks t1_jdxl38v wrote

Nice, done! Thanks for doing the work

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jzini t1_jdxu4k2 wrote

I’m going to pile on the love from the other thread - thank you for your modship

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mooseLimbsCatLicks t1_je0z9d2 wrote

That’s actually what I will prefer to be called from now on:

Your Modship

Very well now, carry on

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nuncio_populi OP t1_jdy6jbi wrote

Preemptive information for those who want to know more about the issues around Liberty State Park:

There has been a long-standing plan to remediate the interior 230+ acre portion of Liberty State Park that was contaminated with chromium and other industrial waste following decades of heavy use by railroads and manufacturers. That area has been fenced off for a long time, largely due to a lack of funding for the environmental remediation.

Last year, the state legislature passed $50 million in funding for Liberty State Park but neglected to pass the companion legislation that would have protected the park from private development and commercialization. As a result, there are two competing visions for the land:

The tentative, original DEP plan (which almost everyone in this sub supports) calls for wetland, woodland, and grassland restoration to create wildlife habitat and scenic, passive recreation for all visitors to the park plus an additional sixty acres of sporting facilities, active recreational fields open, and a cultural center – all open to the public. It would also restore the old train terminal for community use. Since most of the park lies in a flood plain, habitat restoration will actually add a buffer to protect low-lying neighboring communities from storm-surge, particularly parts of Jersey City — Greenville, Bergen-Lafayette, and Downtown. You can see the updated version that was set to be released last Thursday below:

https://preview.redd.it/m9yb1b0hafqa1.png?width=2546&format=png&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=1208094e53cfc23017a8e7273d3e40dd04ceb555

The alternative plan (which is the one most are upset about) is promoted by the People's Park Foundation, which is funded by billionaire golf course owner Paul Fireman. This plan calls for the park to be turned into concert venues, multiple stadiums, hockey rinks, and an olympic-sized pool to be built, destroying the open green space to "generate revenue." Predecessors to the overdevelopment plan have called for a new marina for yachts (conveniently located by Fireman's golf course) and, in the past, an outlandish formula-1 racetrack. Mind you, this would be a multi-million dollar infrastructure investment in a severe flood zone. So instead of a buffer to protect the community, we'd have another expensive mess to clean up.

For context on why the People's Park is pushing their plan, their main funder, Paul Fireman, is a billionaire who owns a neighboring golf course. He has long coveted an environmentally sensitive portion of Liberty State Park called Caven Point to expand his course. His People's Park Foundation has been running a campaign in the op.ed section of NJ.com for the last year either claiming that the first plan does not exist or grossly underselling the state's vision for the park. They try and conflate opposition to their plan with the false idea that the state wants to abandon Liberty State Park. This is an out-right lie.

The development activities that this post is asking the residents of Jersey City to oppose are the ones calling for overdevelopment and commercialization of the park. That said, we are not opposed to all development. Again, there is universal support for the closed-off 230 acres to be turned into restored wildlife habitat with trails throughout for passive recreation and the addition of new areas for active recreation and sport.

Thank you for helping to save Liberty State Park!

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International_Pin262 t1_jdycrb4 wrote

Thank you for this info! I saw this come up a lot on this subreddit but I was missing the context

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Belindiam t1_jdzzwcw wrote

The funds for remediation actually were there before the bill as did the state plan that includes acres for active recreation. The new bill was said to be to set a taskforce in stone (they added some people to it as well ) It came with a promise of 250 million dollars but came out of committee with 50 million. The bill came out of the blue and was pushed through in about two weeks. Flyers for a "vision for the park" were sent out at the same time. Those turned out to come from this new People's Park Foundation (they stole the name often used by those advocating for the park.) The renderings seen in the foundation's flyers were displayed at the hearing and took over the conversation. It also meant that the protection act was dead in the water.

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BlueBeagle8 t1_jdxdfu4 wrote

Sandra Cunningham is also not running for reelection (not that it should stop you from lobbying her office if that's what you want to do.)

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nuncio_populi OP t1_jdxf0hl wrote

Thank you. I will update! Makes sense since Mukherji is moving up.

Edit: Just kidding, I can't edit the post.

Edit on the edit: Still kidding. Turns out I can edit the post. I'm just dumb.

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nuncio_populi OP t1_jdxfqdn wrote

If you have a better way of reaching our representatives, please let me know here and I will update the main post.

Also, truly post your own version of outreach emails and voice messages.

Above all, I encourage everyone to be respectful, polite, and formal when communicating with elected officials. It's easy to dismiss the kooks. It's harder to dismiss the average voter who is upset but reasonable.

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mikevago t1_jdymf3a wrote

Brian Stack does frequent meet-and-greet events with constituents. Although the dates listed on his web site stop in February. But whenever he announces more, we should post here.

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Defnotes t1_jdzm7ch wrote

I use Resistbot: https://resist.bot

You let it know your information, and it’ll look up your representatives’ contact info and give you the option to write a letter once and it will send it to any/all of your elected representatives.

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Imaginary-Scarcity67 t1_jdxodv6 wrote

Does anyone know how to find annual finical reports for a non-profit incorporated in New Jersey?

I tried using GuideStar.org and according to them People's Park Foundation has 1,100,000 in gross receipts and 625,367 in assets, but it doesn't give much detail as to what that is based on. PPF's website does not do a good job of any type of disclosures.

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nuncio_populi OP t1_jdxovwj wrote

Hooooly shit. They have over a million dollars in receipts and $625k in assets?

Fireman is spending even more money on this than I thought. That is actually mind-boggling but when you're worth $1.1 billion I guess it's a rounding error.

Edit: This gets me fired up. Let's make him waste that money. I want him to feel very, very stupid for having thrown it away.

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mikevago t1_jdym8c5 wrote

And that's only the money he's pouring into Liberty State Park For Paul. He's also almost certainly the one funding Jersey City Chronicles, a fake media outlet that pushes Pave the Park propaganda. And who knows how many other arms his astroturf campaign has going.

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Imaginary-Scarcity67 t1_jdxq5e0 wrote

I was kind of thinking the same thing about making sure that money get's wasted. What is interesting is that the receipts are a round number. 1,100,000 sounds like a flat fee one would pay to some type of professional vs a true non-profit which would have many small expenses equaling up to a random looking number. For example, still just going off GuideStar.org, FOLSP reported 98,682 in reciepts and 68,617 in assets.

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FelixTaran t1_jdxlccz wrote

Question: what’s going on with Friends of Liberty State Park? Their website looks pretty out of date. Are they still spearheading the grassroots efforts?

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nuncio_populi OP t1_jdxlvmh wrote

Yeah. FOLSP is very much a grassroots organization.

They do great work in helping to raise awareness on protecting the park and drumming up money for smaller-scale park amenities like playgrounds and gardens and stuff. But, I mean, they clearly don't have a billionaire's hoard of money backing their efforts.

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Imaginary-Scarcity67 t1_jdxoqe3 wrote

lol. I noticed the same thing today, but they do keep it up-to-date. Maybe someone in the community can give them a free make-over or offer to community moderate pro-bono??

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Captain-Rhubarb t1_jdy12rn wrote

They post pretty frequently on IG. That’s where I go for updates from them.

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FelixTaran t1_jdynaed wrote

If people really want to do something organized, it might be worth looping them in. They have been fighting this fight for decades.

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No-Practice-8038 t1_je06vng wrote

If you know anyone who could help with redesigning their website please reach out to them.

I wish I had technical knowledge, cause would help them.

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nuncio_populi OP t1_je0mxr3 wrote

FYI: If you are thinking of messaging your local council person, this is how I modified my message above:

Dear Council Member {Name},

I am concerned about the outlandish plans being pushed by the People's Park Foundation that will irrevocably damage Liberty State Park. The park has been a critical refuge for residents, visitors, and wildlife for generations.

I was eager to hear the DEP's recommendations to create wildlife sanctuaries, hiking trails, community rec. fields, an outdoor amphitheater, and a restored cultural center at the old train station. Unfortunately, Commissioner LaTourette had to cancel his big community event because Paul Fireman's associates at the People's Park Foundation and LSP4All were apparently unhappy that private developers wouldn't get the chance to build massive stadiums and generate revenue from a public resource.

I am writing because I am worried that Trenton is not doing enough to protect LSP. This park is in Jersey City's backyard and I hope our local officials will vociferously advocate for every inch of Liberty State from Caven Point to the northern tidal basin to be protected from commercialization and overdevelopment. Liberty State should be a free, open, and accessible part of our community that balances the needs of conservation and outdoor recreation.

Please help us spread the word to gather support for the tentative DEP recommendation for the redesign of Liberty State Park. Jersey City must be united in opposing the overdevelopment promised by the People's Park Foundation and Liberty State 4 All.

If possible, I would love to see a city council resolution proposed on the issue. We MUST send Trenton and private developers a message to back off of public land. 

Sincerely,

{Name}

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dramamime123 t1_jdxtsdj wrote

ChatGPT is great to prepare these sorts of messages. Just sent out a bunch of forms. Thanks!

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nuncio_populi OP t1_jdxw7dy wrote

If there were any good ones in particular, send them our way!

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Saywhat50 t1_jdxz41u wrote

Why doesn’t someone just make COUNTER flyers and plaster them everywhere

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nuncio_populi OP t1_jdy4qpl wrote

I would love to work with volunteers who have an eye for design and punchy messaging skills.

I'd be willing to chip in some money to get them printed and posted.

Additionally (and separately), we could even reach out to Assemblyman Mukherji. He might be interested in doing something like that to help fundraise for his senate campaign. It would be a win to have him in the senate advocating for the protection act.

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Imaginary-Scarcity67 t1_jdyst9q wrote

How about The Concerned Friends of People's Park Foundation Group. The mission would be to highlight all the under served park's in Greenville and Bergen-Lafayette that could greatly benefit from Fireman's war chest.

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AgentLemon22 t1_jdy5ixo wrote

Make your voice heard! We must protect Library State Park!

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Downtown-Prompt-6499 t1_jdzo4l8 wrote

Does it seem strange to anyone else that Murphy wants to expand the Turnpike so it dumps into Jersey City and Fireman’s vision for LSP which includes a concert stadium?

The kids in the neighborhood will be gentrified OUT.

If Jersey City is lacking parks…speak to Fulop. He added the Green Space surcharge to all the property tax bills for a purpose.

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nuncio_populi OP t1_jdzo9ss wrote

Yeah. The turnpike expansion is a whole other fight and, I think, some years away because they’re going to replace the Casciano first.

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No-Practice-8038 t1_je06erc wrote

Nuncio I know you are busy but I think the French can use some help too…lol.

Thank you!

Please folks hook up with the Friends of Liberty State Park.

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lordleft t1_je0fctf wrote

Thank you for this post. I will be sending emails/letters accordingly.

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aa043 t1_je549n8 wrote

Support the DEP plan to preserve this green space!

JC has few large green spaces and LSP belongs to the State of NJ. Like most of the green spaces remaining, it should be preserved and protected.

JC should consider ratio of population to green spaces and start preserving the green patches that remain.

Its up to the NJ Gov. and two NJ senators to come out and defend DEP plan.

What are their positions on this?

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Notyomother_67 t1_jdzs0ry wrote

Building in contaminated land is not a good idea. But greed, man.

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nuncio_populi OP t1_jdzsfll wrote

The DEP has a plan to remediate that land and return most of it to natural habitat and wildlife trails and the rest to community recreation.

But that isn’t good enough for the greedy developers. They see state funding and they want the money to build commercial venues on a state park.

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No-Practice-8038 t1_je079nz wrote

NJ is one of the most polluted states and has the most super fund sites in the country.

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friendsoflsp t1_jeg9s7m wrote

The NJDEP plans https://folsp.org/dep_plans_slides.pdf for the interior nature habitats and miles of paths at 60% designed and it’s process going forward with consultants making recommendations for the 61 acres of active recreation and other improvements are in the six slides that the DEP released and which they would have shown in poster exhibits if the billionaire and his funded surrogates had not gotten the governor to cancel the open house last week. please check out the slides when you get a chance! these plans are being opposed by the billionaire and his funded surrogates who want the sports and entertainment complex. The billionaire’s plans are at https://dep.nj.gov/wp-content/uploads/liberty/lsp4all-exhibit-d-liberty-state-park-master-plan.pdf they are pushing for a 7000 seat commercial concert venue, 5000 seat and 2500 seat stadium and 2000 seat hockey rink.

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Tycho13338 t1_jegp8nt wrote

Just generated one from google's Bard AI. Pretty good job if anyone wants to use it:

Dear Governor Murphy and State Legislators,

I am writing to you today to urge you to support the Liberty State Park Protection Act. This legislation would preserve Liberty State Park as a public urban green open space free of inappropriate privatization.

Liberty State Park is a national treasure. It is a place where people from all walks of life can come to enjoy the outdoors, learn about our history, and connect with nature. The park is home to a variety of natural habitats, including forests, wetlands, and meadows. It is also a popular spot for fishing, biking, and hiking.

In recent years, there have been several proposals to privatize or develop parts of Liberty State Park. These proposals would threaten the park's natural beauty and its value as a public resource. The Liberty State Park Protection Act would prevent these proposals from moving forward and ensure that the park remains a public park for all to enjoy.

I urge you to support the Liberty State Park Protection Act. This legislation is essential to protecting our state's most precious natural resource.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

[Your Name]

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Snarkysnarksnack t1_jdynx90 wrote

I asked Google’s Bard to write a letter for me, welcome to use yourself (tho have not checked accuracy, are they really wanting to build a Ferris wheel???)

Dear New Jersey Politicians,

I am writing to express my concern about the People's Park Foundation's plan to develop Liberty State Park in Jersey City. I believe that this plan would have a negative impact on the park and the surrounding community.

Liberty State Park is a valuable asset to Jersey City and the state of New Jersey. It is a place where people can come to enjoy the outdoors, learn about history, and participate in a variety of activities. The park is also an important part of the city's identity.

The People's Park Foundation's plan would significantly change the character of Liberty State Park. The foundation plans to build a number of new structures, including a 250-foot tall Ferris wheel. These structures would be out of scale with the park's current landscape and would make it less accessible to the public.

The foundation also plans to develop the park's waterfront area into a commercial district. This would include a number of shops, restaurants, and hotels. While this may generate revenue for the city, it would also make the park less accessible to the public and would change the park's character from a place for recreation to a place for commerce.

I urge you to take action to stop the People's Park Foundation's plan to develop Liberty State Park. Please consider the following options:

  • Reject the foundation's plan.
  • Require the foundation to make significant changes to its plan.
  • Create a public trust to manage Liberty State Park.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

[Your Name]

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nuncio_populi OP t1_jdzh8mv wrote

They definitely do not want to build a Ferris wheel.

Honestly, I’d delete everything after the line, “significantly change the character of the park.” As it’s mostly wrong.

I posted on this thread more information on what they actually want to do.

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