JERSEY CITY, N.J. — The snowy owl was first noticed simply past the 18th gap of one of the costly golf programs ever constructed.The bird was resti
JERSEY CITY, N.J. — The snowy owl was first noticed simply past the 18th gap of one of the costly golf programs ever constructed.
The bird was resting on a sandy seaside crammed with seashells and driftwood on the fringe of Liberty State Park. Waves lapped the New Jersey shoreline of the Hudson River as birders with binoculars stood in awe two years in the past.
Close by, behind a tall black fence, have been the willow-lined fairways of Liberty National, an unique non-public golf course the place luminaries like Tiger Woods and Brooks Koepka have performed, and the place the unique initiation price for members was about half 1,000,000 {dollars}.
The distinction between the lavish membership and the adjoining park, with its hodgepodge of rough-hewed public facilities — each with sweeping views of Decrease Manhattan bejeweled by the Statue of Liberty — has been stark for the reason that course opened almost 14 years in the past.
However the two worlds are actually clashing as by no means earlier than in a showdown over the Jersey Metropolis golf course’s push to increase into almost 22 acres of public parkland.
The outcropping of land, referred to as Caven Level, is a migratory hen habitat the place noticed sandpipers and American oystercatchers nest close to elevated walkways that enable guests to wander, from March to October, by way of tall reeds and onto the sandy seaside. The opposite half of the 12 months the wildlife is taken into account too fragile to allow entry.
However it’s there that Liberty Nationwide officers say they hope to construct three new holes, bringing extra of the 18-hole course nearer to the water’s telegenic edge and serving to it draw high-profile PGA Tour occasions that supporters say spin off financial advantages for the state.
“If we aren’t capable of accommodate what these tournaments want, then they are going to merely go someplace else that may,” stated Chris Donnelly, a spokesman for Liberty Nationwide.
A key vote within the State Senate associated to that effort may come as early as Thursday, marking the latest battle in a long-running historical past of park advocates fending off private developers hoping to construct within the state park.
“To me, it’s actually simply an obscenity,” stated Rick Cordner, an avid birder and the treasurer of Pals of Liberty State Park, a gaggle against the golf course growth. “It breaks my coronary heart to suppose there may very well be a bulldozer on the market plowing it underneath for a golf course.”
The course opened on the Fourth of July in 2006, and takes in about 170 acres of privately owned land, a lot of it a former poisonous wasteland that price greater than $250 million to reclaim. It was thought on the time to be the most expensive golf course ever constructed.
With founding members that embrace President Trump’s private lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani, and Robert Ok. Kraft, the proprietor of the New England Patriots, Liberty Nationwide is not any stranger to the levers of energy in Trenton and past.
One in every of its house owners, Paul B. Fireman, the founding father of Reebok who bought his firm to Adidas for $3.8 billion, and his household are beneficiant marketing campaign donors, contributing about $420,000 to Democrats and Republicans in New Jersey between 2009 and final 12 months, state information present.
Liberty Nationwide’s lobbyist, Eric Shuffler, has labored for 2 New Jersey governors and was appointed to Gov. Philip D. Murphy’s transition group after his 2017 election.
Mr. Murphy, a Democrat, declined by way of a spokesman, Mahen Gunaratna, to debate the proposed growth.
“We typically don’t touch upon pending payments,” Mr. Gunaratna stated. “However the governor believes that Liberty State Park is a New Jersey treasure that belongs to each household. He’s a robust supporter of defending our public lands for the advantage of everybody.”
The land Liberty Nationwide desires to lease for an as-yet undetermined sum was bought with state and federal funds, together with cash meant to preserve land and water. The state would have oversight over any land conversion and the inside secretary would additionally must log out on the plan, in accordance with the state’s Division of Environmental Safety.
Activists have stated the proposed land use may very well be precedent setting and have vowed to problem it, if want be, in courtroom.
“If you happen to can privatize land bought with Land and Water Conservation {dollars}, you’re jeopardizing most of our nationwide parks,” stated Greg Remaud, the director of the NY/NJ Baykeeper, a nonprofit conservation group. “It’s considered one of our bedrock precedents for land conservation.”
Mr. Donnelly stated the brand new holes could be used to liberate different land on the course for staging and hospitality actions which are important to attracting PGA Tour occasions just like the Presidents Cup and the Northern Belief.
“Every of those PGA occasions, each, contributes tens of hundreds of thousands of {dollars} into the Hudson County and New Jersey financial system,” Mr. Shuffler testified final month at a Senate finances listening to.
A spokeswoman for the state’s Financial Improvement Authority stated the company had no estimate of the financial worth to the state from the 4 PGA tournaments held at Liberty…