At Long Last, A Park on the Passaic?

"A park proposed for Newark's Passaic River waterfront has been an unfulfilled vision for at least a decade, kept waiting by a plodding federal project addressing problems along the gritty, industrial shoreline.

But city officials say the Trust for Public Land will help radically speed up plans for a park.

First, architectural designs will be presented to the public this week, showing what the park may look like along a 3/4-mile, narrow stretch of riverfront. The land runs parallel to Raymond Boulevard, starting just west of the Jackson Street Bridge and continuing east.

Then the trust will launch an aggressive fundraising campaign to help pay for construction. The total cost has yet to be determined, but the city has set aside more than $3 million in state Green Acres and Urban Enterprise Zone funding to get the job started in early 2010, according to officials in Mayor Cory Booker's administration."