Liberty State Park at 50: The Downtown Edge Is Changing First

Liberty State Park turned 50 this year. Most of the money behind its anniversary rebuild is going into one strip of the park: the Morris Canal edge, the marina lawn and the plaza in front of the old Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal. That is the part you reach first when you walk or bike in from Downtown Jersey City. The park's deep interior, more than 230 acres of it, is still fenced.

For anyone coming from Paulus Hook, Van Vorst Park or Grove Street, that means the change shows up on your usual route. One piece finished about two weeks ago, one is still behind construction fencing, and two are earlier in the work. Here is where each one stands as of early October 2026, and how to use the park around them.

The route in, and why it matters this year

The car-free way in is the one Citi Bike lays out on its Jersey City Waterfront ride. From Paulus Hook, take Essex Street west, turn right onto Van Vorst Street and left onto Grand Street. Then turn left onto Jersey Avenue and follow it south past the Jersey City Medical Center Citi Bike station. Where the road seems to end, keep going straight onto the pedestrian bridge.

Once you're over the bridge, you have two choices:

1. On foot: go straight down Phillip Street, then turn right onto Audrey Zapp Drive and Johnston Avenue. There's a Citi Bike dock at the Liberty Light Rail station.
2. By bike: turn left right after the bridge and follow the water east with the Morris Canal on your left. After about three-quarters of a mile you reach the Hudson River and the Empty Sky Memorial.

The second route matters this year. The three projects NJDEP broke ground on for the anniversary sit along that canal-to-Hudson stretch or right beside it. In its January 2026 release, the department said the Marina Green improvements will "better connect the area with the Morris Canal and the Hudson River Waterfront Walkway." It also described the Terminal Plaza as the link between the Terminal Building, the Empty Sky Memorial and the walkway, in "one of the park's most heavily used areas."

The way back to Downtown is the same bridge, or the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail from the Liberty State Park station between Communipaw and Johnston avenues.

What already opened: the ferry terminal

The newest finished piece is at the water's edge. On September 22, 2026, NJDOT and NJDEP held the ribbon cutting for the expanded Liberty State Park Ferry Terminal. The project cost $51.1 million and rebuilt the historic CRRNJ ferry terminal, which according to the release had "largely been unused since Liberty State Park was established in 1976." A new pier and barge replaced a sunken barge, and the old barge was sunk again on purpose as an artificial reef off the Jersey Shore. The Federal Highway Administration said about $41 million of the cost, roughly 80 percent, came from federal funds.

"The expanded terminal provides New Jersey's only access point for visitors traveling to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, while strengthening public safety." NJDEP Commissioner Ed Potosnak, at the September 22 ribbon cutting

Statue City Cruises, which runs that service, called the terminal "our new home." Its current Liberty State Park schedule runs from September 8 through October 12, 2026, with departures every 45 minutes from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The operator runs daily except Thanksgiving and Christmas and notes that schedules change by season. If you're planning an outing after Columbus Day weekend, check the times again first.

The terminal also matters beyond tourism. The new pier added four ferry slips with emergency-evacuation capacity. The ribbon cutting doubled as this year's Great Boatlift ceremony, with about 30 vessels marking the September 11, 2001 harbor evacuation 25 years later.

What's still under construction: Terminal Plaza

The plaza between the new terminal and the waterfront walkway is next. NJDEP's program page, updated September 23, 2026, says construction is underway and the plaza is "expected to reopen to visitors later in 2026." That is a forecast, not a date. As of this writing, no published notice lists which walkway sections or parking lots are affected, so expect some construction fencing near the Terminal for now.

The finished plaza is meant to give visitors "a clearly defined pathway" to the Terminal, where they'll find visitor information, programming, restrooms and ferry tickets. Today the ferry terminal works but the approach to it is still a work zone. Once the plaza reopens, the walk from Empty Sky to the boats becomes one continuous route.

What's further out: Marina Green and the Train Shed

Two more projects share the same construction package. NJDEP has put nearly $54 million in state and federal money toward all three, including American Rescue Plan funds. The New Jersey Economic Development Authority is overseeing construction, with AECOM Tishman as construction manager. In January, the department said all three would be built at the same time, with public openings expected "in the second half of 2026 and into 2027."

Marina Green. The 8-acre lawn near Liberty Landing Marina is being turned into athletic fields and flexible lawn space. Plans call for regrading, green infrastructure to help rain soak in, a tree-shaded promenade, a play area for a range of ages, a shade pavilion and a picnic grove. NJDEP has not given this site its own completion date.

The Historic Train Shed. Since the park opened in 1976, visitors haven't been allowed past the concourse that connects the shed to the Terminal Building. Restoration will happen in phases, starting on the east side next to the Terminal. NJDEP's current program page describes that first phase as 60,000 square feet of gathering and event space with seating, while the Master Plan page gives a figure closer to 65,000. Underground structural testing had started by January. No opening date has been published.

The interior is on the slowest schedule. NJDEP and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began the first cleanup of the park's 230-plus fenced acres in October 2023. Ecological restoration and wider access are planned once the cleanup ends, but the department's September update still calls the area inaccessible. The southern gateway on Morris Pesin Drive is also a longer-term plan and isn't part of the 2026 construction package.

The work deep inside the park actually started first, but it is the slowest to open to the public. The pieces closest to the Downtown approach are the ones with opening forecasts. The pieces deepest inside the park have no dates yet.

Using the park this October

The weekend park shuttle ran its third season through September 6, 2026, so getting around inside the park this month means walking or biking. Several fixed dates are worth planning around:

• October 10, 10 a.m.–noon: Kindness Rocks Workshop at the Nature Center, 275 Freedom Way. All ages.
• October 11, 10 a.m.–noon: Trailblazers Volunteer Day, clearing invasive vines in the Richard J. Sullivan Natural Area. Recommended for ages 10 and up.
• October 17, 11 a.m.–noon: Fall Foliage Walk with the park naturalist, starting at the Nature Center.
• October 17, 11 a.m.–2 p.m.: NJDEP open house on the next phase of the revitalization program, with a focus on a climate resilience strategy for the park. It's at the CRRNJ Terminal, 1 Audrey Zapp Drive, with free validated parking in Lot 8, the Ferry Lot.
• October 24, 10 a.m.–noon: Nature's Canvas, a nature-art program at the Nature Center.
• October 28, 5–6 p.m.: Sunset Nature Walk, a weekday evening look at the park's habitats.

Patch reports that the Nature Center programs require registration.

October 17 is the easiest day to see both the old park and the changing one. The foliage walk starts at 11 a.m. at the Nature Center on Freedom Way, and the open house runs until 2 p.m. at the Terminal. The open house is the public's chance to weigh in. NJDEP's Revitalization Program has relied on public input from the start, including five large open houses so far.

Next to the park, Liberty Science Center's Spooky Fest runs October 3 through November 1, 2026. LSC After Dark: Covens, a 21-and-over night, is set for October 29 from 6 to 10 p.m. Along the marina edge, NJDEP's park page lists Liberty Landing Marina's 250 slips, with Liberty House Restaurant at 76 Audrey Zapp Drive and Maritime Parc also on site. Liberty Landing Ferry leaves from the marina for Warren Street and Brookfield Place. Its posted timetable shows hourly weekday departures from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. and hourly weekend departures from 9:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. The timetable isn't dated, so confirm before you count on a return trip.

For a coffee on the way in, Feliz Deliz opened recently at 336 Second Street and serves conchas and homemade chai.

The anniversary, by the calendar

The park officially marked its 50th on June 14, 2026, the same day as the Run LSP 5K, which started at Flag Plaza on Morris Pesin Drive. The celebration is over, but the construction is still going, and it's happening on the stretch from the Jersey Avenue bridge to the Terminal. NJDEP's next update on Terminal Plaza is the one to watch, because that reopening completes the route from the bridge to the new ferry terminal.

If you're weighing a home near the Downtown waterfront and want to know how the park's next phases affect the blocks closest to it, Jessica Williams follows these projects closely. Contact Jessica for a private consultation.