Hoboken awarded $1.82M in grants for open space, park projects

The City of Hoboken was recently awarded $1.82 million in grant funding from the State of New Jersey and Hudson County for various open space and park projects, Mayor Ravi S. Bhalla announced on Tuesday.

A $1.07 million Green Acre grant was provided to redevelop Harborside Park into Cove Park as part of the city’s Rebuild by Design coastal flood reduction project as well as the restoration of a portion of the Weehawken Cove waterfront walkway. The 3-acre Cove Park will serve as open space and be the first park in the state with elevated ground infrastructure to protect the city from storm surge.

“I’m incredibly thrilled Hoboken has been selected for these major sources of funding for our open space initiatives,” Bhalla said. “There are no two more important park projects currently underway in Hoboken than our Northwest and Cove resiliency parks, which will become models for the State and region for including above and below ground infrastructure to address flooding. Thank you to Governor Phil Murphy, County Executive Tom DeGise, and Freeholder Anthony Romano for the generous grant awards, which will also help provide much needed upgrades to our existing dog runs.”

Hudson County also provided a $500,000 Open Space Trust Fund grant to construct the Northwest Resiliency Park, a 5-acre open space park with above ground green infrastructure to absorb up to 1 million gallons of water during storms and an underground tank and filtration system for an additional 1 million gallons. The park will become New Jersey’s largest resiliency park when complete.

“We are pleased to continue to assist Hoboken in its efforts to expand and improve open space through the Hudson County Open Space Trust,” Hudson County Executive Tom DeGise said. “Hoboken has so much to offer, helping them construct parks and recreation space for everyone (including pets!) is crucial to the city’s growth and quality of life.”

Hudson County also will be awarding a $250,000 to renovate dog runs at Stevens Park and Church Square Park.