Embankment Cleanup
Join the Embankment Coalition and Ward E Councilman James Solomon for a cleanup of the area around the Embankment.
News + Events
Get up to date on the Harsimus Branch and Embankment news and events - then help us write the next chapter!
2024 Events
Note: Please check back for new events and latest details as event dates approach. All events are free and open to the public; some require reservations.
Children’s Botanical Art Walk.
Saturday, May 18, 11 am
Jessica Costantine, educator and Embankment Coalition board member, will lead a walk along the Embankment to identify and draw plants that thrive in this urban landscape. We’ll end up in the Brunswick Community Garden for a special activity. Limit: 20 children, ages 5-12, each accompanied by an adult. Email jessicacostantine@gmail.com to reserve your place; be sure to give your name, email address, child’s name and age, and a phone number we can reach you at if there are last-minute changes.
"A Look Back at Our Downtown Neighborhood and Railroad Operations on the Embankment"
Sunday, May 19, 7-8:30 pm
Grace Church Van Vorst, 39 Erie St (entrance on 2nd St).
Bennett Levin, our May 5 presenter (see above), will return on May 19th to share his memories of Downtown Jersey City neighborhoods during World War II, with a focus on the Pennsylvania Railroad Harsimus Branch and Embankment. Reserve a place by emailing embankmentjc@gmail.com and specifying the May 19th talk.
NJ State History/Historic Preservation Conference
Day One: Wednesday June 5, noon – 7 pm
Workshops, Workshop, tours, and Conference Welcoming Event, at Central Railroad of New Jersey (CRRNJ)Terminal, Liberty State Park.
Day Two: Thursday, June 6, 8 am- 7 pm
Conference Sessions, Keynote, Displays, including Embankment Coalition presentation below, at New Jersey City University (NJCU). Details to come.
"Rails to Trails: Preserving the Past and Creating a Sustainable Future"
Thursday, June 6, 8 am
A presentation on Day 2 of the NJ State History/Historic Preservation Conference, NJCU. The Embankment Coalition joins Rails to Trails Conservancy, Union County Connects, and Friends of the Rail Park to discuss aspects of rails-to-trails projects, including historic preservation, sustainable trail ecology, and community engagement, as exemplified by the Rahway Valley Railroad trail, the Harsimus Branch in Jersey City, and the Philadelphia Rail Park. Rails to Trails, a sponsor of the conference, will have a table, shared by its co-presenters. Details to come.
Embankment Preservation Coalition Annual Members Meeting
October 20th, 7 - 9 pm
Grace Church Van Vorst Sanctuary, 39 Erie St, Jersey City; entrance on 2nd Street.
Presentation, status report, refreshments. Featured Talk: "Old Rails/New Life: Functional Ecology on the Embankment." Rutgers Associate Professor Frank Gallagher will report on doctoral research he supervised that was based on drone footage commissioned by the Embankment Coalition. Frank is Director of Environmental Planning in the Department of Landscape Architecture at Rutgers School of Environmental & Biological Sciences. Details to come.
News + Press
Jersey City and Its Railroads: They Covered the Waterfront and Helped Shape a Nation
The Embankment Coalition is observing Preservation Month with two presentations on rail and local history by Bennett Levin. Bennett is a retired professional engineer and former Commissioner, Department of Licenses and Inspections for the City of Philadelphia, as well as a former member of the Historic Preservation Commission there, among other pursuits. A rail line preservationist and founder of a company that rebuilds and restores locomotives, Bennett acquired a lifelong interest in all-things-rail through visits to his grandmother's house on 5th Street adjacent to the Harsimus Branch. Reserve a place for this talk, "The Blessings of Geography" by emailing embankmentjc@gmail.com and specifying May 5th . It will be followed on May 19th by Bennett’s recollections of our neighborhood; see below.
Earth Day at Jersey City Lincoln Park
Demonstrate your support for environmental protection. Bring the kids for a day of fun and information on how the environment is being addressed in Hudson County. The Embankment Coalition will be tabling with members of the Jersey City Parks Coalition and other environmental groups, at this Hudson County Improvement Authority event. We’ll be rolling out a new "Embankment Now" campaign there.
- Wednesday, November 1, 2023, 7pm
- Grace Church Van Vorst
- 39 Erie St, Jersey City, NJ (enter on 2nd Street)
Click to email your RSVP to embankmentjc@gmail.com
- Updates from EPC Board Members:
- Project Status - Federal and local efforts
- Designing Our Future
- What you can do to help
Sign up for our email list to stay informed.
Surface Transportation Board online meeting
Thurs, September 28, 2023, 5-9pm; see these docs for guidance on commenting:
- Embankment Coalition Notice: What to Tell the STB
- Embankment Coalition Guidance on Comments to the STB.
Online Public Meeting re National Historic Preservation Act Section 106 Review of Conrail's Proposed Abandonment of Harsimus Branch (Docket No. AB-167, Sub.no. 1189X), Hosted by Surface Transportation Board Office of Environmental Analysis.
The Section 106 process is designed to consider ways to "avoid, minimize, or mitigate" adverse effects to historic resources that are subject to federal permits. To date, in a draft Memorandum of Agreement, OEA is suggesting documentation and signage as mitigation. We are calling for OEA to consider ways to preserve the historic resource, not presume its demolition and memorialize it.
The Embankment Coalition has worked tirelessly to preserve the Harsimus Branch & Embankment in Jersey City for historically compatible uses of open space, trail, and future light rail. Now we need your help!
Sign up for our email list to stay informed.
Tuesday, October 25, 2022 at 7pm
Register here for a link to the online meeting, featuring:
- Guest Speaker:
- Annisia Cialone, Director of Housing, Economic Development and Commerce,
- City of Jersey City
Up-to-the-Minute Embankment Status Updates
Meet Our New Board Members
Location: New Jersey City University Lemmerman and Visual Arts Galleries (map)
The Embankment On My Mind exhibits original art inspired by the grassroots preservation initiative that holds the promise of transforming Jersey City's treatment of open space and an emerging trail system. Sixteen artists depicting local flora and fauna join twenty-seven artists with wide-ranging responses to the Harsimus Branch Embankment, the massive stone rail structure in Downtown Jersey City that the Embankment Coalition has been working to preserve.
- Reception: November 5, 3:00 pm - 6:00 pm (both galleries)
- Panel Discussion: November 22, 4:30 pm - 6:30 pm (202 Gothic Lounge, Hepburn Hall and virtual), “The Embankment on My Mind: Bridging Science and Art”
- JC Fridays extended hours: December 2, 11 am – 7 pm
- Closing Reception: December 16, 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm (both galleries)
Support the Embankment Coalition's "light touch" vision for treatment of the Harsimus BranchEmbankment at an upcoming Jersey City Planning Department meeting,Wednesday, Sept. 7, 6:30-8:30 pm. Register here.
City Planners will be rolling out an Embankment Redevelopment Plan focused on the open space of Blocks 2-8 of the Embankment property from the west side of Manila Avenue to beyond Newark Avenue near the Turnpike Extension. Help ensure that the future for the Embankment is historic preservation, conservation of what has become an ecological corridor, and connectivity of neighborhoods to a regional carbon-free transportation network.
Join the EPC & other civic orgs for Climate Change 2021: Challenges and Solutions. Dr. D. James Baker will explain the challenges 4/29, 7pm and then solutions & what we can do 5/13, 7pm.
The EPC joins nine other recipients of a 2021 Rails-to-Trails Conservancy grant to advance trails throughout the country. The Harsimus Branch & Embankment will eventually connect with the Essex-Hudson Greenway, which also garnered a grant for its advocates, the NJ Bike&Walk Coalition.
In a meeting hosted by the Embankment Coalition and numerous environmental organizations, Deb Kagan of the NJ Bike & Walk Coalition described the proposed Essex-Hudson Greenway.
Click here to watch recording of the event, then sign on to a support letter.
The Embankment Coalition and Mayor Fulop gave an update on the Vision and an overview of the terms and status of the possible Settlement
Embankment Neighborhood Cleanup
The Embankment Coalition organized the Harsimus Cove Neighborhood Cleanup in partnership with Ward E Councilman James Solomon and the nonprofits CleanGreenJersey City and Adopt-a-Block.
The Surface Transportation Board (STB) is moving ahead with environmental and historic preservation reviews that are part of its federally mandated process when considering a potential permit to abandon a railroad.
The STB will meet (virtually) in October with previously designated consulting parties, including the Coalition, to discuss potential adverse effects on historic assets if an abandonment permit for the Harsimus Branch is granted. This is a step in a process mandated by the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA). To fulfill obligations under the National Environmental Protection, the STB also issued a Supplementary Environmental Assessment (EA), to which the Coalition will be responding.
Public Movement
Coalition Petition to STB Gets 2,588 Signatures
A petition asking the Surface Transportation Board to carry out its preservation obligations received 2,588 signatures before the Embankment Preservation Coalition closed it.
A federal judge last week ruled that the Sixth Street Embankment in Jersey City is indeed a rail line, a decision that city officials believe could lead to the city someday owning the disputed property.
On Friday, the East Coast Greenway Alliance held a grand opening and Ribbon Cutting Ceremony at Lincoln Park in Jersey City to celebrate the bridging of the greenway gap between Jersey City and Newark.
Get in Touch
Request a Presentation
Location: Zoom Meeting | Time: 7:00-8:00pm
The Embankment Preservation Coalition can tailor a presentation to your organization's interests, whether it's Harsimus Branch and Embankment railroad history, our ecological vision for park and trail design, or our advocacy for a trail system throughout the City that would enable every resident to be within ten minutes of a safe, off-road walking and biking trail.
Our work is all about making connections - so, with apologies to E.M. Forster, only connect with us! To request a presentation, email the Coalition with your proposal and, if you can, give us several options for dates and times.
Accessibility / Special Requests
The Embankment Coalition seeks to accommodate at our events people of varied abilities, within the limits of our resources. If you require special accommodations, please contact us at least two weeks in advance of an event at embankmentjc@gmail.com or call 201-963-0232 and leave a message. Please include your contact information and the best ways and times to contact you. Suggestions on how to make our events more accessible are also welcomed! Thank you.