(October 4, 2005) On Monday, September 26th, walkway advocates filed a notice of appeal with the Appellate Court of New Jersey challenging the decision. The Veterans from American Legion Post 107 are upset by the ruling and are also threatening to appeal. On August 12, 2005, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) issued a conditional permit to the City of Hoboken to build the World War II memorial at the foot of Third Street at the waterfront walkway. The condition stipulated by the NJDEP requires that the 64′ 8″ long and 13′ wide memorial be relocated away from the water’s edge to the other side of the walkway. This would place the memorial east of the bike path, thus blocking a 4 foot by 65 foot portion of the Hudson River Waterfront Walkway and also obstructing access by pedestrians approaching the waterfront from Third Street.
The Hudson River Waterfront Conservancy, the Fund for a Better Waterfront, the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance and the Quality of Life Coalition have joined as appellants in this matter contending that the placement of memorial is a violation of the state walkway requirements. These civic organizations are represented by the New Jersey Appleseed Public Interest Law Center. Many of the leaders of these groups have played an active role in securing Hoboken’s waterfront as a public park and have fought against many proposals that would diminish public access to the waterfront.
146 men from Hoboken died in World War II. The memorial commemorates those lost with rows of bronze rifles with bayonets topped with helmets, one for each of the 146 soldiers. The rifles would be set in a granite block with sand filling the area in between. As originally designed, an 842 square foot area of the public waterfront walkway adjacent to the railing at the water’s edge would be usurped for the memorial. Hoboken veterans have complained that for years, the City has failed to complete a memorial dedicated to its victims in World War II. The few remaining Hoboken Veterans from WWII are growing impatient, saying they want to see this memorial built during their lifetimes.
The Land Use Regulation Program of the NJDEP is responsible for enforcing the provisions of the Coastal Zone Management regulations that require a minimum 30-foot wide public walk be established along the Hudson River from the Bayonne Bridge to the George Washington Bridge. This proposed 18-mile path has been completed for much of the Hudson riverfront. NJDEP officials have expressed concern that placing the memorial within the bounds of the Hudson River Waterfront Walkway would set a dangerous precedent. But inexplicably, the NJDEP issued a permit that would usurp a significant portion of the public walk that is now enjoyed by a constant stream of people who stroll along Hoboken’s beautiful tree-lined waterfront promenade at this location.
Compared to communities to the north and south, Hoboken has raised the standard for the Hudson River Waterfront Walkway. The walkway is not just restricted to the 30′ required public path. It is truly a public park with considerable green space. It includes the award winning 5-acre Pier A Park and from 1st to 4th Streets a promenade that is 63 feet wide from the waterfront railing to the street curb. Sinatra Drive separates the public park from the private upland development, thus creating a clearly defined public space at the water’s edge. In other communities, it is the lack of this public street at the waterfront that diminishes the public character of the state-mandated walkway.
Over the past several years, Hoboken’s American Legion Post 107 has applied intense pressure on City officials to move this memorial forward. Dean Marchetto, a Hoboken architect, designed the memorial inspired, in part, by the American June 6, 1944 D-Day landing on the beach in Normandy, France. The American Legion sponsored an emotional program to support this memorial and the Hoboken “boys who did not come home” at the Hoboken High School last April. On May 17, 2005, the Veterans showed up for the NJDEP public hearing at Hoboken City Hall. The Veterans spoke in favor of the memorial as a patriotic duty. Undaunted, a dozen local walkway advocates spoke out in favor of a memorial, perhaps redesigned, but objecting strenuously to its location intruding on the Hudson River Waterfront Walkway.