Source: United States Senator for New Jersey Bob Menendez
HOBOKEN, N.J. – Today, U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Governor Phil Murphy, Mayor Ravi S. Bhalla, and other officials joined together for the ribbon cutting and grand opening of ReslienCity Park at 12th and Madison Streets. Formerly known as the Northwest Resiliency Park, ResilienCity Park is the largest resiliency park in New Jersey, offering more than five acres of public open space amenities and two million gallons of stormwater detention through above- and below-ground infrastructure.
“Today we are cutting the ribbon on a project that is a shining example of community investment at its best – building the green infrastructure of tomorrow and an innovative stormwater management system that will reduce the risk of devastating floods, while providing Hoboken residents with a new active open space and multi-purpose athletic fields,” said Sen. Menendez. “I was proud to advocate for $10 million in FEMA funding that helped make this project a reality, in partnership with the city, state, and county, as we work to meet the climate challenges of the 21st century head on.”
[embedded content]
“I extend my deepest gratitude to the Biden Administration and our congressional delegation for their continued investment in the health and resilience of New Jersey communities, and to the City of Hoboken for its ongoing efforts to expand opportunity among its residents,” said Gov. Murphy. “The ResilienCity Park – the largest of its kind in the state – will connect New Jerseyans to green, open space while offering our children and families a host of recreational activities. Just as importantly, amid the increasing intensity and frequency of storm events due to climate change, this resiliency park will help protect Hoboken’s residents and properties from extreme flooding.”
“I am incredibly thrilled to celebrate the grand opening of ResilienCity Park, a testament to our City’s unwavering commitment to both our residents and the environment,” said Mayor Bhalla. “This park opening is a significant milestone in our ongoing efforts to create a sustainable and resilient community, serving as the largest resiliency park in our great state and a model for the rest of the county. Not only does this park provide much-needed, state-of-the-art open space amenities, it will also provide a critical defense against rainfall flooding, two critical quality of life improvements for our residents. Today, we celebrate the multi-year effort to transform this blighted land into a model of resiliency for all to enjoy. I am beyond grateful to all of our partners at the county, state and federal level for helping make this day possible, along with the members of our community who have waited for this day for years.”
“I applaud Mayor Bhalla and the City of Hoboken on the grand opening of our state’s largest resiliency park,” said Sen. Booker. “ResilienCity Park represents the type of state-of-the-art resilient infrastructure New Jersey needs to mitigate the impact of climate change, such as extreme flooding and sea level rise. I am proud to have secured federal investment for this project and will continue fighting for funding so we can better protect our communities.”
“From the County’s perspective, ResilienCity Park was an appealing “two-fer” for our Open Space Trust Fund,” said Hudson County Executive DeGise. “Not only were we able to contribute to new open space in a corner of the city that desperately needs it, but we are also able to support flood mitigation in Hoboken again with Trust dollars—something our administration has supported since Super Storm Sandy’s devastating impact on Hoboken back in 2012.”
ResilienCity Park transforms a former industrial site into public open space that provides the public with a new multi-purpose athletic field, a basketball court that doubles as a stormwater detention basin, playground, open lawn space, water spray area, and other open space amenities. The park’s terrace pavilion, which will include a café and community room, is currently under construction and it is scheduled to open this fall.
An example of the City’s parks as a climate mitigation strategy, the park was funded by the State and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Rebuild by Design project, which aims to mitigate flooding caused by heavy rain events that have become more severe and frequent due to climate change. Due in part to Hoboken’s topography, low-lying areas of western Hoboken can experience flooding if the city receives more than 0.8 inches of rain per hour.
ResilienCity Park can detain up to 2 million gallons of stormwater that would have otherwise flooded city streets and residential basements through a 1-million-gallon stormwater detention tank located below ground and up to another 1 million gallons through above-ground green infrastructure such as rain gardens and a cistern for on-site irrigation. During heavy rain events, stormwater will be captured by the above-ground infrastructure and fill the below-ground detention tank. The on-site 30 million gallon per day flood pump, constructed through a partnership with the North Hudson Sewage Authority, will pump the water from the tank to the Hudson River.
ResilienCity Park was funded in part by a $10 million grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Building Resilient Infrastructure in Communities (BRIC) program, low-interest financing with $2 million in principal forgiveness through the New Jersey Infrastructure Bank through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Clean Water State Revolving Loan Fund, as well as $1 million in grants from the Hudson County Open Space Trust Fund. Due to the multiple funding sources, including Hoboken’s dedicated Open Space Trust Fund, the park has been constructed at no impact to the municipal tax levy.
“My DEP colleagues and I commend Hoboken on the grand opening of ResilienCity Park,” said Commissioner of Environmental Protection Shawn M. LaTourette. “By reclaiming contaminated land to provide recreational opportunities and mitigate flooding, this remarkable park exemplifies the creative ideas communities across New Jersey, with the DEP’s help, are implementing to respond to the impacts of climate change – and it truly embodies the resilient spirit of the people of Hoboken.”
“We are very pleased be a partner in this grand endeavor which brings parkland to the community and diverts millions of gallons of CSO to our Hoboken Treatment Plant, thus reducing the amount of untreated wastewater going into the river,” said Dr. Richard J. Wolff, Executive Director of The North Hudson Sewerage Authority. “The park, the storage tank below it, and the attendant pump station contribute to a cleaner waterway and bring us one, very big step closer to a truly recreational Hudson River.”
“With the unveiling of ResilienCity Park, the City of Hoboken showcases its commitment to sustainable infrastructure and innovative solutions that protect people from hazardous flooding,” said Angie Fyfe, Executive Director of ICLEI USA. “As a pioneer in the Cities Race to Zero and with its nation-leading Rebuild by Design initiative, Hoboken continues to lead on climate adaptation and serves as an inspiring resilience blueprint for cities everywhere.”
Sen. Menendez has long been a leader in the fight to increase flood protections for New Jersey residents. Earlier this month, Sen. Menendez joined with Governor Phil Murphy, Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-N.J.-06), and New Jersey State Senator Vin Gopal to highlight the commencement of the Two Rivers Water Reclamation Authority (TRWRA) sewer/pump station project, to which the Murphy Administration will commit $20 million in federal grant funding. These measures will bolster the resilience of crucial wastewater and stormwater infrastructure while safeguarding the station and surrounding communities from future storms.
Last month, Sens. Menendez and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) announced a combined total of $8.8 million from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to mitigate flood risks in the City of Bayonne and in Rutherford, NJ. In March, Sen. Menendez joined with Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. to hold a groundbreaking ceremony with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) for the Union Beach flood control project to reduce flooding and better protect the area from rising seas and future catastrophic weather events. In March, Senators Menendez and Kennedy introduced the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) Consultant Accountability Act of 2023 to protect homeowners who are victims of natural disasters from working with third parties that are found guilty of property damage assessment fraud.
During a Senate Banking Committee hearing in April, Sen. Menendez emphasized the importance of keeping flood insurance affordable to lower housing costs for working families and highlighted the reintroduction of the bipartisan National Flood Insurance Program Reauthorization and Reform (NFIP-RE) Act coming soon. In the same month, Sens. Menendez, Cory Booker, Kristen Gillibrand and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer introduced the New York-New Jersey Watershed Protection Act to improve water quality and increased flood protections for residents near these vital water resources.
Sen. Menendez has been the leading advocate in Congress for an overhaul of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), since Superstorm Sandy devastated New Jersey 10 years ago. The NFIP-RE Act, which Sen. Menendez plans to reintroduce soon, would extend the program for five years, while implementing a series of sweeping reforms to address the waste, abuse and mismanagement plaguing the system. Sen. Menendez first exposed the problem of widespread lowballing of flood insurance claims during Congressional hearings, he chaired in 2014, and then successfully pushed FEMA to reopen every Sandy flood insurance claim for review, which compensated Sandy victims with more than $260 million in additional payments they were initially denied.
Sen. Menendez authored the Superstorm Sandy Relief and Disaster Loan Program Improvement Act, which extended and expanded access to federal disaster loans through the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). His Homeowner’s Flood Insurance Affordability Act was signed into law in 2014 to address skyrocketing rates many Sandy survivors were encountering. In 2013, the Senator shepherded the original $50 billion federal Sandy aid package through Congress.
For event photos, click HERE.
###