Urgent Action Needed: Preserve Braddock Park from North Bergen's Preschool Plan

Attention ALL Hudson County Residents:

Are you aware of North Bergen’s proposal to replace approximately 2 acres of recreational/open space land in Braddock Park with a 2-story preschool? This plan would introduce increased traffic, buses, pollution, noise, garbage, and hundreds of people into the park daily.

North Bergen’s preschool plan could cost Hudson County taxpayers millions and disrupt a vital park space. Since 2001, the preschool in Braddock Park has violated state regulations, yet the NJ DEP and NJ DOE have not enforced these rules.

Despite claims that there are no alternative locations, North Bergen recently purchased the unused 10-acre High Tech HS campus for a middle school. The plan was to move students from elementary schools into the new middle school, creating space for the preschoolers. In a 2018 referendum, voters approved this plan and allocated $65 million for it. However, North Bergen now wants to keep the preschool in Braddock Park.

There are other locations for the preschool, but North Bergen is fixated on Braddock Park, protected from non-recreational use by the NJ DEP.

Hudson County taxpayers will foot the bill for replacing the land taken in Braddock Park with 5 times as much land elsewhere. The proposed replacement park lands are unsuitable, including one location in an industrial area next to a busy highway (Rte 495).

It’s crucial to stop this diversion now to prevent future diversions of Braddock and Lincoln Parks for schools, town halls, condos, etc.

Please call or email Senator Stack to stop North Bergen’s preschool plan:

Email: SenStack@njleg.org
Phone: (201) 721-5263 or (201) 376-1942

Also, email NJ DEP: Nancy.Lawrence@dep.nj.gov

Robert Walden
7855 Boulevard East #15i
North Bergen, NJ 07047

Update: We have received information that the NJ DOE proposed preschool letter was written 3 months, not 3 weeks, before the North Bergen-Hudson County "no-build" letter was written. This timing is important to consider in understanding the context of the preschool plan for Braddock Park.

[pdf-embedder url="https://hudsontv.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/30-classroom-plan-07-14-14.pdf" title="30 classroom plan 07-14-14"]

[pdf-embedder url="https://hudsontv.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/No-New-Building-NB-HC-2014-Letter.pdf" title="No New Building – NB-HC 2014 Letter"]