Fairies Vs. The Furies: New Fairy Garden Grows On Former Water Music Site In Hoboken

HOBOKEN, NJ — It was once home to Water Music, where The Feelies and Joe Jackson's band recorded, and lately, it's been home to a lot of water during heavy rains. A developer hopes to turn the land into 36 condos, but hasn't yet begun the demolition. So one local artist decided it needed a fairy tale.

A large plot of land at 931 Madison St. in Hoboken, still awaiting redevelopment, recently became home to a group of fairy houses, toys, and other decorations.

While many of the fixtures in the "Hoboken Fairyland" were removed last month, the creator has started a new garden, with signs telling the destroyers to leave it alone.

The fairy gardener explained last week how she got the idea for the "Hoboken Fairyland."

"As I live close by the abandoned site," the artist said, "it was quite depressing to walk by this debris filled eyesore everyday — especially in the summer when vagrants would sit out and smoke/drink and leave their garbage ... I began thinking that if I started putting some garden decorations there, that maybe people would refrain from using it as a trash can."

She noted, "I have innumerable artifacts, souvenirs, recyclables and just out-right cool objects I’ve collected over the years that constantly give me ideas."

Then, families joined in.

"Children and adults alike started to stop and admire, take pictures, and even added their own eclectic pieces in between mine," she said, "a ninja gnome, 2 headless superhero figures, a pirate crew member, and my favorite, a child-made cloth doll."

"After my neighbor sent me a post of a mom publicly thanking me on Hoboken Facebook for making her child’s day (he is obsessed with pirates), I began to add little figures on the pirate ship."

She said people began making repeated trips to the site to see what was added.

What's Happening With the Site?

In the last year, the site has attracted beer bottles and other trash, and in the last month, new graffiti appeared on the fences (see photos).

Regarding the destruction of the fairyland and the graffiti, police spokesperson Marci Rubin said, "Hoboken police are still looking into the situation and detectives are working with all parties involved to come to a resolution. Hoboken PD would only proactively investigate graffiti if it is offensive and/or on city property. Otherwise, there would be no investigation unless the property owner files a report. There have been no reports of graffiti filed in that area of Madison Street so far this year."

City spokesperson Marilyn Baer said that the private owner's plan to redevelop the site is continuing.

The site was designated as in need of redevelopment, and will eventually become known as Madison Views.

"The city entered into a redevelopment agreement with the property owner in October 2021 for a 36-unit residential building," Baer said. "The property owner is actively engaging the Construction Office to attain the necessary permits to demolish the building and commence redevelopment of the property."

You can read a 2021 update on the development progress here.