Proposals to monetize and privatize portions of Maritime Park run counter to the goal of a truly public waterfront

By leasing the Community Hub building proposed for Maritime Park, the City of Hoboken could generate up to $111,000 in annual revenue for the community room and $55,000 for the roof deck. The City could also “Capitalize on Kayaking”, generating annually up to $77,500 for boat storage and $18,000 through kayak and canoe rentals.

These proposals are contained in Appendix C, Maritime Park Funding Opportunities, prepared by James Lima Planning + Development, in the final report submitted by Dattner Architects and its partners. The Funding Opportunities report proposes monetizing Maritime Park further with lawn areas for pay-to-play soccer, softball and volleyball; fees for birdwatching tours; and rental of the beach area.

These proposals fly in the face of the Fund for a Better Waterfront’s (FBW) decades-long advocacy for a truly public space at the water’s edge, open and free to all. To comply with the City’s Open Space Trust Fund (OSTF) ordinance, leasing the Community Hub building to a private operator would require approval by Hoboken voters, a right that FBW recently bolstered through its settlement with the City of Hoboken.

In response to the “Capitalize on Kayaking” proposal, Oscar Hernandez, a Hoboken Cove Community Boathouse (HCCB) board member, declared, “It certainly is against our mission. It also creates a lot of liability. There is a reason why no one offers storage, just paid tours. It’s not a lake.” For 20 years, the all-volunteer HCCB has offered free kayaking opportunities to people throughout the region, operating from the beach area of Maxwell Place Park, directly north of the Maritime Park site. Experienced HCCB members ensure safe and carefully supervised kayaking in the Hudson River, known for its strong currents and tides and frequent ferry traffic. HCCB currently serves up to 4,000 people annually.

If the City obtains State of New Jersey Green Acres funding to help pay for the construction of Maritime Park, the proposals to monetize could also run afoul of state restrictions. Any lease would be subject to NJDEP approval and must comply with public access requirements.

In response to the Maritime Park community surveys offered up by Dattner and Scape Studio, most people supported the proposed Community Hub structure, assuming it would be a public building and that kayak storage would supplement the ever-expanding free program of the HCCB. FBW assumed that the lawn areas, similar to Pier A Park, would be free and not subject to pay-to-play recreation activities.