Embankment Preservation Coalition
The Harsimus Branch Embankment has been under threat of demolition for thirteen years, first by local government (which became supportive of preservation after residents made their wishes known) and more recently by private development companies.
Demolition would not only erase the landmark itself but would also have immediate impacts on the approximately 300 properties and thousands of residents along the length of the site. Many more properties and residents in adjacent National Historic Districts and historic neighborhoods would suffer from stone and infill removal, earth-moving equipment and truck traffic rumbling through narrow streets, with consequent noise and air pollution. Besides these immediate physical impacts, the structure's removal would be an irremediable loss to the city's heritage. The structure and the surrounding residential areas (largely built between 1850 and 1908) achieved their patina of age together, and removal of the structure or its replacement by modern construction will scar the area.
Preservationists have gone the distance to demonstrate that "This Place Matters." They have sought compliance by the owners with federal rail abandonment law, which provides historic and environmental protections for the public, and they have defended the structure against local demolition applications. Their efforts to keep the structure standing ironically mirror citizen struggles, when the rail line was first proposed more than a century ago, to minimize its impact on residential areas. These bookend struggles are both about the ability of ordinary citizens, when faced with powerful economic interests, to influence the course of events and the shape of their neighborhoods. The structure survives (so far) as a powerful reminder of The Golden Age of Railroading. Its sensitive reuse would serve pressing current needs. Preservation and conservation goals include a habitat-oriented park in what is the most densely populated county in the most densely populated state in the country. The structure's traditional transportation function would continue with a greenway, a segment of the East Coast Greenway, a walking and biking trail being assembled from Maine to Florida. A portion of the site would also be reserved for future light rail. All three uses could be accommodated on the 100-foot wide structure.
Elsewhere, railroad remnants have been successfully incorporated into world-renowned recreational and residential re-use projects like The High Line in Manhattan and the Promenade Plantee in Paris. Lesser known projects like the East River Park in Brooklyn, which once received Jersey City car floats, and Gantry State Park in Queens, where enormous gantries used to maintain water/cargo level have been retained as sculptural objects, are other examples of such compatible reuse. Jersey City's Harsimus Branch Embankment matters to those who live along it and throughout Jersey City and the region. The East Coast Greenway depends on its preservation for its connection from New Jersey to New York. Embankment preservation and reuse will mean This Place Matters for generations to come.
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