Aaron Lewit helped to spearhead FBW’s work with developers in creating Maxwell Place Park; Jeffrey Train has led efforts to preserve Hoboken’s colony of terns at the north waterfront
At this year’s Connect the Waterfront event on November 14, the Fund for a Better Waterfront (FBW) will bestow two Riparian Awards, one to Aaron Lewit, in memoriam, and the other to Jeffrey Train, for his leadership in protecting Hoboken’s colony of terns. FBW will rename the Riparian Award The Aaron Lewit Riparian Award.
Aaron Lewit lived a life built around his commitment to community and social justice. Aaron served on FBW’s Board of Directors longer than any other member. After moving to Hoboken in 1989 with his wife Lynne Shapiro, he joined the Board in 1992 and served as Board President from 2001 to 2008. In his first years as President, he helped to spearhead a landmark agreement between FBW and the developers of the Maxwell House Coffee site that resulted in the creation of the 5-acre Maxwell Place Park.
In the 1990s, Aaron worked for the Enterprise Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to building affordable housing and promoting racial equity. In 1995, the Enterprise Foundation sent Aaron and his family to Sante Fe, New Mexico where he developed housing for Native Americans. Two years later, they returned to their Hoboken home. He was a founding member of the Elysian Charter School and served as a commissioner for the Hoboken Housing Authority. He also played a vital role, lending his expertise in housing, to the Hoboken Community Center and the Hoboken Shelter.
Aaron loved riding throughout town on his bicycle, stopping frequently to catch up with friends and neighbors. He took pride in his prolific rooftop garden and generously shared its bounty. Aaron passed away in February leaving a legacy of compassion, humor and dedication to service.
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Local birder Jeffrey Train, also known as Mr. Train, led an effort this year to preserve and protect a colony of common terns that had come under threat at Pier 12 at Hoboken’s north waterfront. These migratory seabirds have returned to Hoboken for the past twelve years to nest and raise their fledglings, a testament to the revival of the Hudson River’s ecosystem. This year, the lease of Pier 12 resulted in the installation of deterrents to inhibit the return of the terns. Mr. Train teamed up with Noelle Thurlow of Resilience Adventures and Juan Melli, who formerly worked for the City of Hoboken, to form an organization, Our Tern, focused on providing a welcoming environment for the birds’ return next spring. Recently, they have looked into constructing floating islands equipped with decoys and bird calls that would provide safe nesting grounds for the birds in future years.
Mr. Train has led birding walks throughout the region, including Hoboken, Central Park and Cape May, New Jersey. His advocacy has included proposals to remedy window strikes, since more than 1 billion birds are killed in the US each year when they fly into glass windows. He is the Founder of Mr. Train’s Life Lessons for Better Birding & Beyond, a program designed to inspire love and curiosity for the natural world by revealing hidden nature, including in urban settings. Jeffrey is a cofounder of Freedom Birders, a project inspired by the Civil Rights movement that seeks to reveal the intersections between people, birds, history, and spaces. He is looking forward to finding his 100th species of bird in his home city of Hoboken.