The Friends of Liberty State Park
The Friends of Liberty State Park is an open space advocacy volunteer organization dedicated to the park's future as a free, green and non-commercial, urban waterfront oasis.
We support a Central Park-type park for the free enjoyment of recreation, nature, and history, for relaxation, and for reflection on the views of the neighboring national shrines, the skyline of NYC, and of the Upper New York Bay and the Hudson River.
We are an all-volunteer group of people who use, care about, advocate for, and improve this majestic and sacred park, which is public green space next to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. The essence of the park's 25 year history is that people have fought for a free park in the shadow of these two national shrines to democracy.
History of
Liberty State Park
The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island Photos
On the New York Harbor, less than 2,000 feet from the Statue of Liberty, Liberty State Park has served a vital role in the development of New Jersey's metropolitan region and the history of the nation.
During the 19th and early 20th centuries the area that is now Liberty State
Park was a major waterfront industrial area with an extensive freight and
passenger transportation network. This network became the lifeline of New York
City and the harbor area. The heart of this transportation network was the
Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal (CRRNJ), located in the northern
portion of the park. The CRRNJ Terminal stands with the Statue of Liberty and
Ellis Island to unfold one of this nation's most dramatic stories: the
immigration of northern, southern, and eastern Europeans into the United
States. After being greeted by the Statue of Liberty and processed at Ellis
Island, these immigrants purchased tickets and boarded trains, at the CRRNJ
Terminal, that took them to their new homes throughout the United States. The
Terminal served these immigrants as the gateway to the realization of their
hopes and dreams of a new life in America.
Today, Liberty State Park continues to serve a vital role in the New York Harbor area. As the railroads and industry declined, the land was abandoned and became a desolate dump site. With the development of Liberty State Park came a renaissance of the waterfront. Land with decaying buildings, overgrown tracks and piles of debris was transformed into a modern urban state park. The park was formerly opened on Flag Day, June 14, 1976, as New Jersey's bicentennial gift to the nation. Most of this 1,122 acre park is open space with approximately 300 acres developed for public recreation.