New Jersey parks

Church Square Park Church Square Park is borderedPolitics" and Crossfire.
on the west by Willow Street, the east by GardenGateway Park Gateway Park is an official yet
Street, the north by 5th Street and the south by 4thsecluded park that was created in 2000 to help make
Street. Park Avenue is blocked by the park. Churchthe neighborhood more scenic. In 2002 Troop 146
Square park is surrounded by famous landmarks,cleaned up Gateway Park for Earth Day and also
such as the OLG church, the Hoboken Public Librarycleaned up nearby Jackson Street. The park itself has
(in top-left corner of picture), the Demarest Schooltrees, grass, and a bird feeder. There is an official
Building and St.sign at the park that says "Your Park", although it
Mary's hospital.doesn't say "Gateway Park" yet. The park is about
The park has a fireman statue in the western part ofas big as a gas station.
the park and a veteran statue in the eastern part.Gateway Park is in the southwest corner of
There is a gazebo in the center. The playground andHoboken.
swings are slightly southeast of the Gazebo, andIt is at the corner of Newark Street and Jackson
there are also 5 fields, a dog run and many bushes.Street on a block that is half in Hoboken and half in
Recently, "no ball playing" signs have been put up inJersey City.
the fields to keep the grass in good shape.The park is shaped like a right triangle, with the
In 1994, the wooden playground that had been inbottom part of the triangle on the south, and the
place for a long time was destroyed and replacedright part of the triangle on the east.
with a safer, more packaged playground (seeGateway Park is Hoboken's smallest park.
picture). The newer playground has been in the parkThe park is the southernmost park in Hoboken.
for 11 years and has remained practically unchangedThe park shares a border with Jersey City to the
since it was built in the mid-90's.south and to the west.
In 2005, a memorial grove, containing trees dedicatedGateway Park is bordered to the south by train
to a fire victim, was uplifted and moved to a lesstracks, to the north and west by Newark Street
attractive part of the park to make way for a(which is always busy and full of cars) and to the
toddler playground, despite public opposition.east by an abandoned building (the Windsor Wax
Questions have been raised about the toddlerCompany).
playground's necessity, and those opposed to theOn 2 of the 3 sides the park is lined with pine trees.
project argue that there is no need for it since thereThe "Your Park" sign says from top to bottom the
already are 2 playgrounds within Church Square park.following rules: Dogs must be on a leash, no alcoholic
They also argue that the new toddler playground isbeverages, no defacing of property, no littering, no
an eyesore and has removed too much open spacebarbecuing. (Those are the standard rules for
(there used to be 6 major fields, and now there areHoboken parks.) Jackson Street Park Jackson Street
only 5 because of the toddler playground). In MarchPark is a park on Jackson Street near 1st street. Like
2005, the oldest tree in Church Square Park wasLeigon Park in Hoboken, Jackson Street Park is
killed because it was in the way of the constructionsurrounded on 3 sides by buildings and does not have
of the toddler playground.a celing. It has a playground and a rock climbing wall.
Also, it is believed that David Roberts, the mayor ofMost of the ground is gravel.
Hoboken, funded the project to help him getMadison Park Madison Park (also called Madison Street
re-elected in May.Park) is at the corner of 3rd Street and Madison
Despite the toddler playground's controversial statusStreet. There is a large metal slide there, and there's
and public disapproval, it was finished in April, 2005. Ita large abstract painting on the building that faces it.
is used, but not as much as the other playgrounds inPier A Pier A is an exceptional park in Hoboken, New
the park.Jersey. It was originally used as a pier for ships and
Columbus Park Columbus Park is a park nearwas recrafted as a park in 1999. It extends from the
Hoboken High School at the corner of 9th Street andsouthern end of Hoboken, with a view of the entire
Grand Street. There was originally a distinct andManhattan skyline and the restless currents of the
unique one-of-a-kind playground a tall as a threeHudson River as it begins to clash with the tides of
story building with unusual equipment found nowhereNew York Bay. Pier A has a water-jet fountain, bike
else. It was destroyed in October of 2002 to makepaths, rows of trees (some of them transplanted in
way for a more normal, packaged (and safer)maturity), a big field, a fishing area (with water
playground, in the name of Deborah Lynn Williams, apumps and cutting boards), and a gazebo at its
woman who was killed in the World Trade Center ineastern extremity. It is an example of good civic
the September 11 Terrorist Attacks.design, particularly the grass field which is firm and
Because of the new playground's memorial status,natural-looking though its sod is layered atop
the original playground will probably never be re-built.concrete.
The original playground was made up of 3 sections:In warm weather movies are shown on it at night,
the first section contained a complex of chains forthe blazing Manhattan skyline rising behind the screen.
climbing, 3 platforms, and a very tall slide made ofMany people witnessed the September 11, 2001
plastic (probably the tallest in Hoboken), which curvedAttacks from Pier A because it had good views of
and could be seen over 6 blocks away. The secondthe World Trade Center. On March 11, 2002 a
section was a large castle-like structure with a slide,memorial service was held on Pier A. On September
two entrances and a pole for sliding. The third section11, 2003 a section of land was created as a memorial
was a series of unusual and unique space-like metalfor the September 11, 2001 victims (by planting
domes, which kids could crawl through and createtrees).Currently, there is a temporary memorial to
echos. All of this equipment was trashed and thrownvictims in the form of a tear drop. A permanent
out in 2002. The new playground has only onememorial, called Hoboken Island, is planned to be built.
section, and is considered by most to be unoriginalThis section is a stub. You can help by adding to it.
compared to the first playground.Stevens Park Stevens Park is a park in Hoboken,
There is also a separate memorial dedicated to Johnbordered on the west by St. Peter & Paul Church, on
A. Sacci, a man who was shot in 1997. To this day,the south by the Marineview Plaza complex, on the
the word "remembrance" is misspelled on the marbleeast by the Hoboken Little League Field, and on the
monument.North by buildings of the Stevens Institute of
There is a statue of Christopher Columbus in theTechnology.
center of the park. The park is the only county parkWithin Stevens Park is a large playground and one of
in Hoboken.the few unique playgrounds left in Hoboken. Other
Hoboken Island Hoboken Island is a planned park7 inone-of-a-kind playgrounds that have since been
Hoboken, New Jersey, connected by a bridge to Pierdestroyed include the very tall playground in
A's gazebo, honoring the September 11, 2001 victims.Columbus Park, destroyed in 2002, and the wooden
The park was among many designs submitted toplayground in Church Square Park, destroyed in 1994.
create a Hoboken 9/11 memorial. The "HobokenThere is also a very rare exposed section of
Island" concept by the FLOW group was chosen inSerpentine rock in the southern portion of the park,
September 2004. When the park is constructed, awhich has been eroded away over the years by
beam of light is planned to be in the center. Therepeople stepping on it. In the central section of the
are 57 victims recognized in the project.park is a dog run, which is smaller than the one in
Currently, there is a temporary memorial already onChurch Square Park, and as a result, the park area
Pier A, in the form of a tear drop.surrounding the dog run is cleaner. Also, in the
Frank Sinatra Park Frank Sinatra Park is a park alongwestern part of the park are two cannons facing
the waterfront, offering views of Manhattan.west towards the St. Peter & Paul Church's cafeteria.
It is very close to Pier A. Built around 1998, the park'sThis section is a stub. You can help by adding to it.
name honors Frank Sinatra, who was born inElysian Park Elysian Park is a small park in Hoboken,
Hoboken. Sinatra Park has a curved flat area aimedNew Jersey that is the last remnant of the Elysian
at Ground Zero. (When it was first built it wasFields. Bounded on the west by Hudson Street, and
designed to face the World Trade Center.) There isthe north and east by Sinatra Drive, Elysian Park has
also a cafe and a Soccer Field open to the public.two play areas, a basketball court, a sprinkler, a dog
On August 24, 2004, CNN came to Sinatra Park torun and rest rooms.
shoot and broadcast live nationwide shows "Inside