LIBERTY STATE PARK'S WATERPARK

The NJDEP Public Meeting on January 27, 2001 at Liberty State Park was the culmination of the battle against Mayor Bret Schundler's and the park's Development Corporation's proposal for a commercial, privatized Waterpark at Liberty State Park. The vast majority of over 600 people at the public meeting (and of the thousands of communications to Trenton) opposed the Waterpark. Many elected officials and mayoral candidates opposed the Waterpark. It wasn't a good day for Bret, not for a man running for Governor. Though he had retreated from Waterpark support only 3 days before the public meeting because of the writing on the wall (the 37 letters to the editor), he was vehemently booed by the crowd for his double-talk and distortions about his position on the plans.

Opponents of the Waterpark were outraged by the proposed privatization of sacred public parkland next to Miss Liberty and Ellis Island, the destructive consequence of inevitable summer weekend traffic jams, and the taking away of green, open space in this densely populated region. The Waterpark would have been one major attraction too many - with people already coming to the park for the Circle Line Ferry, Liberty Science Center (which is doubling in size) and a multitude of unstructured recreation uses. The private Sports Complex (like a NYC Chelsea Piers) planned for the site across the 2-lane road from the proposed Waterpark expects 3 million users a year within 5 years. The Sports Complex, going into the Jersey City's car pound site, never had public hearings on its potential effects on the limited access roads to the park, etc. One of the developers is the Barry family (see post #2, below)

The main controversy centered on choices framed by a NJDEP Planning Committee for the 42 acre perimeter of the park's interior natural area. Plan I, supported by NJ Audubon, called for about 22 acres of open space, and Plan 2, supported by The Friends of Liberty State Park, provided for 42 acres of open space for unstructured recreation. The main feature of admission-charging structured recreation Plan 3, was the 13 acre commercial Waterpark, which was opposed by over 35 local and statewide organizations, including The Friends of LSP, The LSP Conservancy, NJ Audubon, HART, NJ Sierra Club, NY/NJ Baykeeper, NJ Environmental Federation, NJ Environmental Lobby and numerous neighborhood associations.

During almost a year of NJDEP Planning Committee meetings on the interior perimeter, Schundler never distanced himself from the only swimming plan on the table -- the commercial privatized Waterpark with the park's Development Corporation as the middleman between the private developer and the state of NJ.

Schundler did a survey of school parents and had a JC website survey in order to win support for the Waterpark. This deceitful survey only presented 2 plans, conveniently omitting the open space plan. Using the proposed Waterpark site for open lawns was proposed by the NJDEP as the Committee's starting point months before the survey. When requested by the Committee to provide Waterpark estimates so the public would have a general idea of what the Waterpark would require in size, daily users, and admission costs, Schundler and the Development Corporation brought in a Wisconsin Waterpark developer. They presented the estimates for economic viability for a private developer: about 13 acres, 3500-3700 daily users, and $8- $16 admission fees.

Schundler never suggested that Plan 3 be divided into a commercial Waterpark and a public pool, until a few days before the public meeting, when he decided to retreat. In newspaper stories (The Hudson Reporter, 11/5, and The Jersey Journal, 12/30), he promoted the Waterpark and said that it would boost Hudson County tourism by drawing from the millions of NYC tourists.

In a Jan. news conference, he stated that he has "no problem" with the privatized Waterpark plan on the table, and asserted that an additional 3000 cars a day entering the park would hardly be noticeable at all.

Schundler used taxpayer money to pay for a mailing to 50,000 JC residents and to pay for full-page ads in The Jersey Journal and The Hudson Reporter (and to bring 2 busloads of supporters to the public meeting). The mailing and the ads presented biased and incomplete descriptions of the 3 plans. Though the Committee plans used the terms unstructured recreation and structured recreation, Schundler tried to mislead people by pretending that unstructured recreation in free, open space, which would include non-league, "choose-up" ball playing, was not active recreation. Playing ballgames with friends, families, co-workers, etc. is just as active as paying money to go swimming. Schundler didn't mention the Sports Complex in mailing/ads.

Three days before the public meeting, he finally came out against the Waterpark in order to limit the political damage he had inflicted upon himself by supporting the Waterpark with the Development Corporation, over many months. At the public meeting, he said to a Waterpark opponent that he really didn't fully support the Waterpark, that he was just "amenable" to it. However he wanted to describe his support for, lack of distancing himself from, and talking about the potential benefits of the commercial Waterpark plan, one thing he never did was criticize it at all. Therefore, he clearly was a part of advancing the plan, and was arrogantly ignoring over 25 years of the overwhelming majority public consensus for a free, green park. He was on the wrong side of a plan, which posed a real, destructive threat to the future of our county, state, and national jewel, Liberty State Park.

Schundler spent a record $2 million to get re-elected Mayor in 1997 against an unknown Jeremiah Healy, former Municipal Judge! Schundler did not get 50% plus 1 vote in the May election so faced Healy in a run-off....

1997 Top ten campaign contributors as detailed in a JJ article dated 11/21/97:

1. A.G. Mazzocchi Inc. and Nicholas Mazzocchi
leasing - under contract to do all

The JC Incinerator Authority demolition work, razed the Majestic Theatre downtown $450,000, razed the old State Theatre in Journal Square which had collapsed onto an adjacent building..

2. The Barry family

3. - They're the owners of Portside and the current developers of Port Liberte' as well as dozens of buildings elsewhere. Lum, Danzis, Drasco, Positan & Kleinberg
- the law firm who represented the City in the 5-year sexual harassment case against the police and the City lost…

$ 790,000 in legal fees which was greater than the settlement of $500,000! (see Police)

4. Waters, Mcpherson, McNeil
- law firm that represents Hartz Mountain Industries

who are building 70 and 90 Exchange Place and have gotten lucrative 20-year tax abatements.

5. Newport Development Corp and associates companies

6. - Sam Lefrak's company which built Newport and has received 20 and 30 year abatements on office and luxury apartment buildings Donohue, Gironda and Doria

7. - accounting firm that had the contract for the defunct JC Sewage Authority but now has the JC MUA (see AUTONOMOUS AGENCIES- MUA) and Schundler awarded them the City annual audit that used to be done for decades by Deloitte & Touche, a Big 5 firm. Hartz Mountain Industries Inc. -

8. Owner of 2093 Kennedy Blvd and Developer of tax abated 70 and 77 Hudson Street on the waterfront. Hudson Jersey Sanitation Inc.

9. - HJS had the $16 million-a-year garbage collection contract with the JC incinerator Authority until the Stamato family sold the business to a firm which later merged into the national firm Waste Management Inc. Waste Management's contract expired November 2000. The new kid in garbage collection, HC Container Service, which includes former principals from HJS- Stamato family, bid on the contract. HC Container's bid was higher than Waste Management's but HC sued saying the bid specified that only trucks newer than 5 years were allowed. Waste Management countered sued. The judge threw out the bids. Waste Management's new proposed rate is LOWER than the current rate ( $500,000 ) the JCIA/city is paying but the City must continue to pay the old, higher rate until the contract is re-bid, but now all the parties know the numbers! No new bid date has been set. Certainly sounds like a bid tailored to HC Container Service since they're the new firm with new equipment. It's hard to believe that any reasonable government official would require new trucks when the STREETS ARE LITTERED WITH POTHOLES... I'm sure Waste Management, which has contracts in every state, can pull enough newer trucks to meet the bid specifications and save the strapped taxpayers!!! What a new concept for Schundler but I guess Schundler wouldn't get his big campaign contributions? In JC, what's more important: Schundler's political contributions or saving the "Distressed City" and taxpayers tax dollars? Leanza & Agrapidis -

10. law firm that did the work for the $30,000 MUA proposal Square Parking Corp and Square Parking Systems Inc.
- In 1994 the parking authority renewed the lease for the 850 car garage in Journal Square then later sold it to them for peanuts. (See AUTONOMOUS AGENCIES- Parking Authority section)

Source: Jersey Journal 11/21/97 article by Brian Donohue "Bret's Bucks"

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