At the time of the Weehawken Waterfront Park creation, a state-required Hudson River Walkway was established surrounding the park to connect pedestrians, runners, and bicyclists to Hoboken on the South and West New York to the North. This path has been used for years until the Township of Weehawken installed private gates to the public walkway, citing issues with security to its park.

The Problem

We’ve been made aware of and have confirmed during a recent site visit that the established Hudson River Waterfront Walkway has been blocked by the Township of Weehawken. This ‘pathway for the people’ has established a doctrine that we understand has an enforceable policy to maintain an ‘unrestricted’ walkway along the Hudson River (regardless of nearby construction not impacting the route). This path however was used for years until the Township of Weehawken installed private gates to the public walkway citing issues with security to its own park.

Due to the closed walkway, Hudson County residents are being forced onto a narrow sidewalk along an extremely busy and dangerous sidewalk alongside Port Imperial Boulevard (River Road). When asked why the walkway is closed, the answers continue to be “construction”. However, there was no construction occurring during the time the gates were installed nor any interference to the walkway today, given the proximity to current projects.

The Solution

The concern with the Township of Weehawken has been around security at the Waterfront Park, and unfortunately, the public walkway was integrated alongside it. The fix is to simply install a fence around the park itself, separating it from the waterfront walkway, enabling secure access to the park but unobstructed access to the walkway.

We ask that the Weehawken Township remove both the North and South gates currently blocking access to the recreation path.

Please contact the Weehawken Town Hall.

Address: Weehawken Town Hall, 400 Park Ave, Weehawken, NJ 07086 (201) 319-6005