About a mile of open land in downtown Jersey City has gone unused for decades, but now two groups are both vying for the chance to repurpose it.
The parcel of land, known as the Bergen Arches, is located off Palisade Avenue and Route 139. It used to be part of a transit system for steam trains but has not been in use since those trains were retired around the 1960s.
“The Holland Tunnel extension and then electric rails were invented around the same time. The tunnel started bringing people across to Jersey City,” said Rahid Cornejo, Project Director at the Bergen Arches Preservation Coalition. “There was no need for a steam engine, and at some point that died out, and at some point, the property became almost abandoned.”…