Essex-Hudson Greenway highline balancing biodiversity with public access for our neighborhoods
In this latest installment from the 2025 Citizen Journalism class: a two-part story by the Community Journalism team titled “Essex-Hudson Greenway balancing biodiversity with public access for our neighborhoods”. In Part 1, the team introduces the Greenway project and centers community spaces as portals for connectivity.
A graffiti-covered wall with striking artwork catches the eye along the path connecting Branch Brook Park to the Greenway. Aug. 9, 2025. Photo credit: Ande Richards
Newark, NJ - In September 2022, under the leadership of Gov. Phil Murphy, the State of New Jersey acquired the former Boonton Line rail corridor, a nearly nine-mile, out-of-commission stretch of overgrown, deteriorated infrastructure from the Norfolk Southern Railway for $65 million, marking the largest conservation transaction in state history.
That investment is set to turn the dormant railway, originally used to transport iron ore and ice to New York City, into a multi-use greenway creating more than 135 acres of new green space that will link eight municipalities in Essex and Hudson Counties, including Montclair, Glen Ridge, Bloomfield, Belleville, Newark, Kearny, Secaucus, and Jersey City.
Doug O’Malley, state director of Environment New Jersey, an organization dedicated to protecting the natural world explained that the Greenway project almost didn’t happen but fortunately the state's leadership had a vision for the land.
“Norfolk Southern could have sold the land off piece by piece, until the Murphy administration committed $65 million in 2021 to purchase it,” O’Malley said.
He added that the project has broad support from local activists, state agencies, and business groups.
Karina Diaz, press secretary to Hudson County Executive Craig Guy, echoed Environment of New Jersey’s early support to activate the abandoned rail line project.
“Both the previous Hudson County Executive and Craig Guy’s administration have supported the Greenway,” Diaz said. “The open space and recreation opportunities that this project brings are invaluable for Hudson County, she said. “In addition, the new connectivity east and west that will be created is critical. When completed, the greenway will draw visitors from all over the state and the region – this will also allow for unprecedented opportunities for our hyper-local businesses in the area.”
(Left to right) The Park Avenue Bridge, a prominent feature of Branch Brook Park’s landscape, spans the brook in Newark, New Jersey. Aug. 2, 2025. Park goers enjoy a sunny afternoon at Branch Brook Park on Aug. 9, 2025. Box gardens feature native plantings at Branch Brook Park on Aug. 2, 2025. Photo credits: Ande Richards.
Connectivity and community spaces
The linear state park and trail will also form part of the 9/11 Memorial Trail, a 1,500-mile route that links the National September 11 Memorial and Museum in New York City, the National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial in Arlington, Virginia, and the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. It will also connect to the 3,000-mile-long East Coast Greenway.
In the Newark section of the Essex-Hudson Greenway, three major hubs are planned as focal gathering points, connected by an ADA-accessible trail with native landscaping, forming the core of the Greenway’s first mile.
The Branch Brook Park Overlook, located just west of Tiffany Manor, will offer an observation deck with sweeping views of Branch Brook Park and the Second River, allowing visitors to connect visually and physically to the larger 360-acre historic park and the Lenape Trail.
The Tiffany Manor Community Space will lie between Manchester Place and Greenwood Lake Street, directly across from the historic Tiffany Manor building; it will include a central seating area, grassy lawns, picnic space, stormwater gardens, native plantings, and a space to host short-term amenities like food trucks.
The Newark Central Activity Center, the largest of the hubs (between Summer Avenue and Broadway), is conceived as a versatile space designed to be inclusive for all ages and abilities, with features such as a performance stage, ADA-accessible playground and restrooms, multi-sport courts, outdoor exercise stations, shaded picnic groves, and an expansive lawn for large events.
Vincent Grassi, program specialist at the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), said that Operation Grow, a grassroots organization, helped them to envision what could be done with the spaces.
Operation Grow played a vital role in creating and sustaining a community garden in North Newark, providing fresh, free, organic food daily and hosting programs twice a week that brought neighbors together.
“They hosted a pop-up garden at the future Tiffany Manor Community Space in the summer of 2024 to demonstrate one opportunity for activation on the Greenway,” Grassi said. “The concept of a community garden has since been incorporated into plans for the future Newark Central Activity Center, which will include dedicated space for a community garden.”
Sharonda Allen, executive director of Operation Grow, emphasized the importance of authentic representation, equitable participation, such as community gardens and ensuring that the Greenway’s development benefits residents without contributing to gentrification.
Echoing that point, O’Malley noted that “there is an effort to make sure this is seen as a community project and not something forced on communities.” He said there were more than 25 listening sessions, and as parts of the trail open, “you’re going to see more demand — people saying, ‘What about us? When are we next?’ And that’s exactly the sort of momentum we want to be creating.”
