I am a parent of an eight-year old female child who is attending Camp Liberty at Liberty State Park for the third year in a row.
For those of you not familiar with Camp Liberty, let me give you a short scenario of the camp. It's located within Liberty State Park. The children are busy all day within the camp, swimming, arts and crafts, board games, dodge ball, singing, playground time, rollerblading, nature walks, etc. Unless there is extremely bad weather, all activities are outdoors; no TV, no outside trips, which I am all for.
A story my daughter told me the other day was so moving that I wanted to share it with the residents of Jersey City, especially those residents who have young children who are at that impressionable age.
My daughter came home yesterday and said, "Mommie, I had such a great day. We went on a nature walk today with Miss Kelly, and we did the most amazing thing. We ate berries, lemon leaves and many other things." What makes me so happy is my daughter did not come home and say, "Mommie, I saw a kid take drugs today."
Imagine that, in Jersey City, my daughter was able to get a taste of nature in our great city, not the suburbs and not the mountains, but Jersey City. This makes me proud to have my daughter in Camp Liberty. And every year the private developers try to take our Camp away. One year it was a golf course, a waterpark and the last I heard, a driving range. The Camp has been begging the state for a long term lease with no luck. Jersey City residents who are concerned enough to keep the great things in Jersey City should support Camp Liberty.
Our former mayor Bret Schundler has been trying for years now to commercialize Liberty State Park and Camp Liberty. Now our unrespected former mayor, who has done nothing for Jersey City but raise taxes, is running for Governor. We cannot, I repeat, we cannot let him win because his first step will be to take our Camp and Park away and commercialize it. Last year we fought the mayor at the Liberty Science Center because he wanted a commercial waterpark in Liberty State Park. All B. Schundler is interested in is making money for his own pocket. He has no concern for the children of Jersey City.
Eleanor Traina
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