Site Visit

Although our kayaking trip was cancelled due to rain we carried on to visit the site anyways. We were suprised by the amount of life on site, so different then when we were there last semester in winter. There were snails, oysters, mussels, crabs, seagulls, and quite a few native plants mixed in with the invasives. There was also a "residence" of sorts out on the point; clearly a kindred spirit appreciating the benefits of the location.

Atlantic White Cedar stump and snails

Blue Crab

Liz and a new friend

View from the point

Barbara in the mugwort (for scale)

LAND 4407 Kearny Point Park Studio

Jennifer Cooper RLA,MLA
Instructor Columbia University

PROJECT SITE:The New Jersey Meadowlands is a large estuary roughly the size of Manhattan. It has a long history that is both natural and industrial and traces the story of the region. Its ecosystem has been fragmented and is now only understood piecemeal by cars speeding by on the Turnpike. But it is a site of great potential impact, being the first glimpse of NJ for many coming from Newark Airport to the Lincoln Tunnel. The richness of the Meadowlands as a system is the inspiration for this studio.
The project site itself is a triangle of land on the peninsula of Kearny Point at the confluence of the Passaic and Hackensack Rivers that gazes out into New York Harbor. It is in a heavily industrial area in Kearny, NJ and is underutilized considering its prominent geographic location. The area previously housed heavy industry but is now mostly home to the trucking and other trappings of the transportation and storage of goods. There is a correctional facility to the north and large corporate offices. The site is split in half, one side is a sewage treatment transfer station run by the Kearny Municipal Utility Association and the other half is a BASF brownfield site that is being capped. There is an abandoned rail line to the north that previously connected Newark with New York through Jersey City. It severs the site from its surroundings.