Comment EI-17454
Received or sent (printed as 4/22/2009)
I live on First Street at the southern boundary of The Village area of Jersey City. My yard backs up to the old Pennsylvania Railroad main line section that still exists, although the iron trestles that once ran down Columbus Avenue (then Railroad Avenue) to Exchange Place are gone. The Village area is defined by the old Pennsylvania railroad. The Harsimus Branch is our neighborhood's northern boundary at Sixth Street. Stanchions mark where it once went past Mary Benson Park, the main park in our neighborhood, and it also skirted the Jersey City and Harsimus Cemetery to our west. As you can tell from this description of our boundaries, our neighborhoodwill be very much affected by what happens to the Harsimus Branch when you allow it to be abandoned. I am not only concerned with the harm to the rich history of this area but also with the fate of wildlife that have moved in as the trains moved out. A wild turkey has been sighted on the Embankment, and police chased one down a local street just a few weeks ago. Monarch butterflies use the Embankment and the area west of Mary Benson Park, which provide habitat for them and other wildlife. We see opposums, skunks, raccoons, and many, many birds in this area. The niches wildlife find in our growing city are important to identify and preserve. To my knowledge, no one has ever studied the habitat here and what it supports. We do know, however, that threatened and endangered species have been documented nearby. For this reason alone you should require further study. There are many other reasons why you should do a full Environmental Impact Statement. Everyone should understand what destruction of the Branch will mean for future transportation options in the City, for open space, for air quality, and for cultural loss.
Submitted by: Nicole Le Bris · Jersey City, NJ
The Board publishes this comment in its environmental-comment table for this proceeding. It is quoted here as printed; nothing is inferred from it, and it states the commenter's own position in their own words, not this record's.
Permanent address docketyard.org/d/AB-167/sub/1189X/comment/EI-17454 · back to the docket sheet