Hoboken and Weehawken Now Connected With Scenic Walkway

The plan to make the entire Hudson County waterfront pedestrian friendly is now one step closer to completion with the grand opening Tuesday afternoon of the Hudson River Walkway Pavilion at the Weehawken Cove.

The 800-foot walkway, accessible to Hoboken residents at 15th Street and Park Avenue, enables pedestrians to safely walk from Hoboken to neighboring Weehawken and vice versa. The walkway and its pavilion area include benches for visitors to sit and see the Hudson River and scenic Manhattan skyline.

The new pavilion was considered a “gap site” along the larger county-long walkway. Private developers have constructed most of the route as part of deals negotiated with local municipalities. Since the stretch at Weehawken Cover has not been commercially developed the county contributed some of the money to build it.

Hudson County contributed $515,000 from its Open Space Trust, and the federal government gave a $3.2 million dollar grant from its Transportation, Community and System Preservation program. The Hudson County Division of Planning supervised the construction work, which was performed by TOMCO Construction of Wharton, NJ.

More than 60 people attended the ribbon cutting Tuesday, including Mayor Dawn Zimmer, Weehawken Mayor Richard Turner, Hudson County Executive Thomas DeGise, Freeholder Anthony Romano and Hoboken City Councilmembers Theresa Castellano and Beth Mason.

Mayor Zimmer called the walkway a “fantastic addition” and said it would further Hoboken's reputation as a pedestrian and bicycle friendly city, and also spur more economic development.

“I invite everyone from Weehawken to come to Hoboken, and for everyone in Hoboken to go visit Weehawken,” Zimmer said.

Mayor Turner said area residents have been planning for the walkway since the early 1980s.

“This was always a no man's land, and now you see it come back to life,” Turner said.

Romano, who grew up in Hoboken, also highlighted how the waterfront has evolved from a former industrial strip to a tourist attraction.

“This is such an exciting time,” Romano said. “Seeing what has been brought about is unbelievable.”

Romano, a former Hoboken police captain, said that Hoboken police and Hudson County sheriffs will patrol the walkway at night.

DeGise said Hudson County will continue to link the waterfront with pedestrian walkways from Bayonne to North Bergen.

“The county is very proud to be developing the type of system to walk from one end of the county to the other,” he said. “The greatest asset that Hudson County has is its waterfront.”