Liberty State Park
Jersey City NJ
2013

Liberty State Park is a park in the U.S. state of New Jersey, located on Upper New York Bay in Jersey City opposite Liberty Island and Ellis Island. The park opened in 1976 to coincide with bicentennial celebrations and is operated and maintained by the New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry.

https://nj.gov/dep/parksandforests/parks/libertystatepark.html

With the Manhattan skyline, Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island as a spectacular backdrop, Liberty State Park is one of the state's most dramatic parks.

A green oasis in the heart of Metropolitan northern New Jersey, Liberty State Park serves as the gateway to the region’s rich natural, cultural and historical resources.

The historic Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal (CRRNJ), a grand setting for much of New Jersey's transportation history in the northeast, sits prominently at the north end of the park. A two-mile promenade, Liberty Walk links two picnic and playground areas, the Nature Center and the CRRNJ Terminal while presenting visitors with a sweeping view of the Hudson River. Wide open fields, miles of pathways and an outdoor performance area provide an inviting atmosphere for all types of recreation. The Liberty Landing Marina, restaurants and the NJ Empty Sky 9/11 Memorial complete the northern end of the park, while the western portion is dominated by the recently expanded, state-of-the-art Liberty Science Center.

Located directly on the shores of the Hudson River, Liberty State Park is also the only location in New Jersey with Ferry service to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty.


A View From The Park Bench

Upon this old familiar bench
From which I've spent a time or two,
Just gazing at the sky above
And watching chestnut trees,
Which change throughout the seasons
Now their copper leaves do fall,
Which gather on this stony path
And tossed upon the breeze.

For scattered far across the field
And through the air with random flee,
From every bough it seems to pluck
Until each one is bare,
Now soon the winter shall be here
With icy chills the frosts and snow,
When I'll not stop but carry on
And find no comfort there.

Upon this bench so old and worn
That's scrawled and etched on every slat,
And smeared with food from yesterday
Yet still to me so kind,
For here within my solitude
Away from all the toil and spite,
I'll take my time to look around
While others seem so blind.

Within this park the children play
Upon the swings the slide and frame,
And run around upon the grass
Just like I used to do,
But now so many years have passed
And older but no wiser I,
And wish I had my youth again
Reliving days I knew.

Upon this bench I sit and wait
And as the people pass me by,
Some of them do speak to me
Some look the other way,
Yet here the grass shall always grow
Beneath my tired and aching feet,
A friendly place I call my own
Where often I do stay.

I long for daffodils of spring
To watch them all come into flower,
When blossom blooms upon the bough
Such beauty there to see,
Then listen to the birds that sing
As if for me their sweet refrains,
And I alone shall hear them all
Each golden melody.

Upon this bench on which I rest
I think how many things have changed,
Yet here it almost seems the same
As times of long ago,
St. Mary's there still proudly stands
And in the morning sun does shine,
As ages passed it's witnessed all
And seen the village grow.

Now as I make my way back home
And walk along this stony path,
Adorned by scattered copper leaves
That through the autumn fell,
I know I shall return again
To lose myself within the view,
And watch the seasons changing
From the bench where I shall dwell.

ANDREW BLAKEMORE