Pop-Up Park Being Added To Hoboken's Existing Southwest Park

HOBOKEN, NJ — The city of Hoboken began construction Wednesday morning on a new pop-up park that's adjacent to the existing Southwestern Resiliency Park at 58 Jackson St. Ultimately, the addition will expand the Southwest Park.

Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla and other city officials said the pop-up was made possible because the city acquired an additional acre of land at Block 10, located at Observer Highway and Harrison Street.

Last month, Bhalla announced the agreement to acquire Block 10 from Academy Bus for $11 million. The acquisition price of $11 million will be funded by $900,000 of grant funding from Hudson County’s Open Space Trust Fund, $1 million of grant funding from Green Acres, and the balance from the Municipal Open Space Trust fund.

The design of the pop-up park will incorporate feedback from local residents and includes a playground, shade structures, picnic tables, a basketball court, pickleball courts, community gardens and additional programmable space.

The pop-up park is anticipated to open to the public in approximately two months.

“When I ran for mayor, doubling the size of the Southwest Resiliency Park was a commitment that I made to Hoboken, and I couldn’t be more thrilled that in just a few months, residents will finally have access to this additional acre of open space,” said Bhalla. “Just like Hoboken’s previous pop-up park at the site of the Northwest Resiliency Park, the temporary park on Block 10 will provide immediate benefits while we design the permanent park. I look forward to celebrating with everyone this summer!”

“I’m extremely excited to be able to have a pop-up park available to residents for the summer as we continue working with the community in design and planning phase of the park,” said 4th Ward Councilman Ruben Ramos. “This was a great collaboration between the administration, City Council and Academy and this expansion will be the centerpiece in Southwest Hoboken.”

“The expansion of the Southwest Park is great news for the Fourth Ward and all of Hoboken,” said former Mayor Dawn Zimmer. “Thank you to Mayor Bhalla for ensuring this larger park. The transformation of Western Hoboken over the past decade through the acquisition of over 10 acres of new park space has been truly amazing.”

"The first time I spoke at a City Council meeting as a resident was in 2017 to advocate for the expansion of the Southwest Park,” said at-large Councilwoman Emily Jabbour. “While I wasn't living in that immediate neighborhood, I knew the importance of acquiring this property to ensure that all Hoboken residents would have the benefit of open space. Urban open spaces have tremendous benefits for our community, which has become all the more apparent during the COVID-19 pandemic. I am so grateful for the leadership of Mayor Bhalla and Mayor Zimmer in prioritizing open space for Southwest Hoboken."

“On behalf of County Executive DeGise and the Board of Commissioners, Hudson County is proud to support Hoboken’s expansion of parkland through the Hudson County Open Space Trust Fund,” said Hudson County Commissioner Anthony Romano. “It will be amazing to see the transformation of land that has sat vacant into a park that everyone can be proud of. This is what happens when the government and community work together.”

The acquisition of the park will have no impact on the 2021 municipal budget.

The city will begin a formal community process to solicit input into the design of the permanent Southwest Park expansion on Block 10, starting in the fall of 2021.

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