History

On July 9, 1990, the voters of Hoboken scored a stunning referendum victory, defeating a massive 3.2 million square foot development scheme for Hoboken’s south waterfront, proposed by the City of Hoboken and the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey. Subsequently, the leaders of that referendum campaign, wanting to promote a positive vision for Hoboken’s waterfront, formed the Fund for a Better Waterfront (FBW). FBW’s first task was to create a plan for Hoboken’s waterfront. The Fund for New Jersey provided a grant to FBW to hire architect and urban planner Craig Whitaker. Mr. Whitaker worked with a team of volunteer professionals to execute the plan.

The plan took a number of different forms: a two-dimensional drawing, then a 4′ by 12′ architectural scale model and finally, a book entitled, A Plan for the Hoboken Waterfront. After a second referendum victory in 1992, the City of Hoboken agreed to work with representatives of community groups, including FBW, to create a plan for the Hoboken waterfront. In February of 1995, the City of Hoboken adopted an amended redevelopment plan for the south waterfront that embraced nearly all of the principles advocated by FBW. Nearly half of the site is devoted to public open space. The piers, that formerly were to be platforms for the development of 1.6 million square feet of residential and commercial development in the Hudson River under the 1990 City of Hoboken/Port Authority proposal, now comprise the southern portion of Hoboken’s continuous, public waterfront park.