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Groups wanting to protect Liberty Park seek change in bill

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Nearly six decades ago, Morris Pesin and his family left their Jersey City home to visit the Statue of Liberty, not realizing the ordeal that lay ahead of them.

They spent 21/2 hours stuck in heavy tunnel traffic and waiting in a long line for the Battery Park ferry before arriving at the statue.

There, Pesin realized how much closer Jersey City was to the statue than New York and how ugly his hometown's neglected waterfront appeared, with its decaying piers and abandoned railroad yards.

He launched a crusade to transform the land into a family park with ferry service, and, with other advocates, fought for their goal, finally achieved in time for the nation's bicentennial in 1976.

Today, his son, Sam Pesin, president of the Friends of Liberty State Park, is fighting with others - environmental, preservation, community, and parks advocacy groups - to keep the site from being "developed inappropriately."

They believe a last-minute addition to a bill the New Jersey Legislature passed shortly before Christmas may open the door to privatization and commercialization of the park.

The 80-page measure - the Hackensack Meadowlands Agency Consolidation Act - is awaiting the signature of Gov. Christie, who has until early February to act. Christie has a policy of not commenting on legislation before him.

"My dad called this sacred public land," said Sam Pesin, a preschool teacher in Jersey City whose nonprofit friends group advocates for the waterfront attraction. "It's scarce open urban space near the Statue of Liberty.

"If the governor signs this bill," he said, "it will dishonor the Statue of Liberty, the spirit of America, and the democratic process."

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Groups wanting to protect Liberty Park seek change in bill

Liberty Villages crowd-funded bus cancelled due to potential transit rules violation

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Passengers waiting to get on the Liberty Village Express bus on Oct. 6, 2014. 680NEWS/Carl Hanstke

The alternate transit option for people who live in Liberty Village has been cancelled.

A bus, dubbed the Liberty Village Express, was supposed to run on Monday as an alternative to the chronically busy 504 King streetcar.

The luxury coach, which went from Liberty Village to Union Station, did a trial run last fall, but the organizers told the CBC that after consulting with a lawyer, they decided not to do it again as it may violate city transit rules.

The crowd-funded project was launched by Toronto start-up company Line Six. who felt residents in the area were being under-serviced by the TTC.

Residents in Liberty Village have complained of overcrowded streetcars on King Street. The 504 King streetcar is the busiest of the TTCs surface routes and carries about 60,000 riders a day.

Bus route of the Liberty Village Express. SOURCE: ridelinesix.com

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Liberty Villages crowd-funded bus cancelled due to potential transit rules violation


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