{"id":224960,"date":"2026-05-08T19:39:19","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T19:39:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/224960\/"},"modified":"2026-05-08T19:39:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T19:39:19","slug":"inside-the-plan-to-preserve-jersey-citys-sixth-street-embankment-ecosystem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/224960\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside the Plan to Preserve Jersey City\u2019s Sixth Street Embankment Ecosystem"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ImurIMUR Gallery at 67 Greene Street in Jersey City. Photo by Darren Tobia.<\/p>\n

Last year, the nearly three-decade fight to save Jersey City\u2019s Sixth Street Embankment from demolition finally came to an end when a settlement was reached with the developer.<\/p>\n

Now, the work of the Embankment Coalition is shifting to what it always wanted to do \u2014 imagining what the abandoned rail corridor could look like when it is finally turned into a public space. To do that, they first have to understand what is up there after all this time. It turns out that, devoid of human interference, a surprisingly rich ecosystem has sprouted up that is worthy of protection in its own right.<\/p>\n

\"SarahSarah Yu\u2019s \u201cMaple Leaves.\u201d Photo by Darren Tobia.<\/p>\n

That was the subject of a short-lived but impactful exhibition at IMUR Gallery in downtown Jersey City called \u201cFrom Vision to Reality.\u201d The second floor of the show featured Sarah Yu\u2019s botanical illustrations and Kay Kenney\u2019s photographs of species many would be surprised to find along the corridor \u2014 like maple trees and wildflowers. Photographs by Anthony Boone, Edward Faustey, and William A. Ortega document rusted train tracks now swarmed by wild vegetation.<\/p>\n

\"EdwardEdward Fausty\u2019s \u201cBecause I Can.\u201d Photo by Darren Tobia.<\/p>\n

Peter Selman, one of the founders of the Embankment Coalition, said he worked with gallerist Ivy Huang to reprise their 2022 show called \u201cEmbankment on My Mind.\u201d These artists were on a reconnaissance mission, serving as the eyes of the public when the tracks were sealed off, discovering an oddly rich habitat hidden in plain sight before an actual survey was completed.<\/p>\n

\"WilliamWilliam A. Ortega\u2019s \u201cIn the Shadow of Newark Avenue.\u201d Photo by Darren Tobia.<\/p>\n

In 2022, the Embankment Preservation Coalition commissioned Rutgers University Professor Frank Gallagher and the Meadowlands Research Institute to survey the ecology found there. They discovered that because it has been closed off to humans for the past two decades, a healthy forest has grown in its place, one that is surprisingly devoid of invasive species.<\/p>\n

The Sixth Street Embankment has become known as Jersey City\u2019s version of the High Line. But Sean Gallagher, who leads the coalition\u2019s design team, believes what they have is actually unique.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe city doesn\u2019t realize what it has,\u201d Gallagher said. \u201cIt\u2019s an entire ecosystem that grew up on its own without our intervention. We want people to understand how special this is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gallagher, Director of Sustainable Design at Diller Scofidio + Renfro, the firm that designed the High Line, is positioned as an authority in his comparisons to the Embankment. He believes what Jersey City residents have is something more than a new public space.<\/p>\n

To protect the ecosystem, Gallagher sought to design pedestrian infrastructure that works with what is there, rather than ripping everything up and starting anew.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe approach we have taken is, the less we disturb, the better it is. So we developed this idea of a \u2018light touch,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cTaking this light touch approach is also smart for the city because the forest is super healthy and the city hasn\u2019t paid one dime.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jack Lefeber, an architect who works alongside Gallagher, said the design would use structures made of wood or stone that \u201cmelt into the forest.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you think of an urban park, you think of the rubber ground, a big playground, things like that,\u201d said Jake Lefeber, a volunteer on the Embankment\u2019s design team. \u201cBuilding that typical playground at the embankment would destroy much of the ecosystem there and also be more costly.\u201d<\/p>\n

The embankment is comprised of six separate \u201cblocks.\u201d\u00a0When it was completed in 1905\u00a0by the Pennsylvania Railroad<\/a>, the segments were connected and carried rails to a freight yard along the waterfront. The Embankment Coalition plans to reconnect them with wooden bridges, forming a continuous park from Marin Boulevard to Brunswick Street.<\/p>\n

In 1998, under Mayor Bret Schundler, a redevelopment plan was drafted that could have led to the demolition of the entire embankment. Selman and Maureen Crowley, who live near the structure in Harsimus Cove, launched into action. In 2000, the Embankment\u00a0was listed<\/a> on the National Register, providing\u00a0some level of protection.\u00a0Despite her nonprofit raising enough money to buy the embankment,\u00a0Conrail sold it in 2005 to a developer, the Albanese Organization<\/a>, which led to\u00a0eight years of litigation. \u201cIt bounced between the district court and appeals,\u201d Crowley said.<\/p>\n

The settlement, which dragged on for a few more years, will allow the developer to construct a 40-story tower at the easternmost part of the embankment, featuring an entryway to the linear park. Crowley, who founded the coalition with Selman in 1998, said the settlement left her content. \u201cWe\u2019re common-sensical \u2014 I think we got what we wanted,\u201d Crowley said. \u201cIt\u2019s a compromise we can deal with because we were looking at razing the entire structure.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"IMUR Gallery at 67 Greene Street in Jersey City. Photo by Darren Tobia. Last year, the nearly three-decade…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":224961,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[30120,14507,9,11,10],"class_list":["post-224960","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-6th-street-embankment","tag-downtown","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224960","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=224960"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224960\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/224961"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=224960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=224960"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=224960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}