Renderings show the prospect of a festival marketplace at the Hoboken Terminal but also a bleak, treeless plaza devoid of the historic cobblestones
The public has been denied access to Warrington Plaza at the Hoboken Terminal for more than 24 years. NJ Transit, the owner of the 40 acres that comprise this historic multimodal transit hub, has stated that the restoration of the plaza and adjoining portion of the Terminal is dependent on privately developing a portion of its property. Over the past 16 years, a succession of development proposals has failed to materialize, thus delaying the work — until this year.
Last January, NJ Transit’s developer, LCOR, began construction on a 27-story residential tower as part of its Hoboken Connect project and this month began the rehabilitation of Warrington Plaza as well as Hudson Place. Renderings for Hoboken Connect show the potential for making the Terminal area facing the plaza a popular destination. At ground level and on the 2nd floor, there would be cafes, restaurants and retail shops similar to South Street Seaport in Manhattan or Faneuil Hall Marketplace in Boston but on a smaller scale. There are also plans for an event space.
The success of this revitalized Terminal area, of course, would be aided by easy access via ferry, train, bus and light rail, and the 50,000 commuters who pass through this facility on a daily basis. It is also situated on the pedestrian pathway of the 18-mile Hudson River Waterfront Walkway.
But the renderings also raise concerns. They show a stark plaza missing its historic cobblestones. The plaza and a renovated Hudson Place provide for a limited number of canopy trees. The landscape plan pales in comparison to the award-winning design of the adjacent Pier A Park.
NJ Transit’s tower, currently under construction, will contain 386 residential units and is situated south of Observer Highway at the foot of Washington Street. Billed as a transit-oriented development (TOD), no parking is provided. The ground floor will contain 5,000 square feet of retail space. The other tower is a 21-story, 704,355 square foot commercial building to be built on the corner of Hudson Street and Hudson Place above the PATH station. It is scheduled to be completed in 2029. Construction of a new bus terminal will also begin shortly.
Built in 1907, the Hoboken Terminal, formerly known as the Erie Lackawanna Terminal, is a Beaux Arts masterpiece designed by noted architect Kenneth Murchison during the City Beautiful Movement. The impressive main waiting room has a marble staircase with cast iron railings leading to the second floor where people could board the top level of double-decker ferries that originally connected Hoboken to Manhattan. The waiting room is adorned with ornamental plaster and buff limestone. The skylight in the waiting room is Tiffany stained glass, as are the transoms above the ticket windows. In 1973, the Hoboken Terminal was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Hoboken Terminal building with its copper-clad facade has bounded two sides of the cobblestone Warrington Plaza. The cladding, oxidized to a greenish patina, announces “Ferries to New York.” In 2010, NY Waterway ferries returned to these original slips behind this facade.
For many years, NJ Transit and the City of Hoboken have promised the restoration of the plaza. What should be the gateway to Hoboken’s waterfront parks, however, has been closed to the public since 9-11, behind a chain-link fence, a guardhouse and concrete barriers. NJ Transit has used the site for an unsightly surface parking lot.
NJ Transit has also floated the idea of transforming part of Terminal into a festival marketplace and event space for many years. The concourse on the second floor, also with Tiffany stained glass skylights, has sat vacant for decades, a grand, decaying relic of the past.
During Superstorm Sandy in October of 2012, Warrington Plaza and the Hoboken Terminal, which are all built on pile-supported platforms over the Hudson River, were underwater for a number of days. Sandy’s powerful surge came into the New York Harbor and breached south of the Terminal building along the Long Slip Canal, and also in north Hoboken at the Weehawken Cove, filling up the western, low-lying portion of Hoboken.
NJ Transit has taken a number of measures to protect against future flooding. The Long Slip Canal is being filled and will be elevated to provide for rail tracks that are above the flood zone. Warrington Plaza will also be elevated and stabilized, requiring major infrastructure work that is now underway.
In 1984, Hoboken Mayor Steve Cappiello, after obtaining a state Green Acres grant, announced the opening of the Erie Lackawanna Plaza proclaiming that it is “dedicated to the people of Hoboken.” It has been on the City’s “Parks and Open Space Inventory” for the past 40 years.
FBW will provide updates after examining LCOR’s plans submitted to various boards for approval and monitoring the construction progress.