Droyer's Point is a section of Jersey City, New Jersey, at Newark Bay that was the site of the Jersey City Airport and later of Roosevelt Stadium, both of which were demolished. It has become a residential and commercial district.
Droyer's Point is a section of Jersey City, New Jersey, at Newark Bay that was the site of the Jersey City Airport and later of Roosevelt Stadium, both of which were demolished. It has become a residential and commercial district.
In the southwestern part of the city, Droyer's Point is located on the Newark Bay. Its eastern perimeter is New Jersey Route 440. The point is entered from the highway's intersection with Danforth Avenue. To the north, Kellog Street creates its boundary with the brownfield and site of Bayfront, [1] a planned urban development project. The point itself is opposite Kearny Point, with which it marks the mouth of the Hackensack River. [2] [3]
Since the 1990s Droyer's Point has been developed as a residential and recreation area. At its southern end is the Athletic Complex of New Jersey City University – its other locations are further inland on the West Side. [4] Just to the north are the residential communities built by Hovnanian Enterprises. Construction was delayed until there was remediation of chromium found at the site. [5] Known as Society Hill, the first phase of townhomes were built c1993-94, with phase two being constructed c1995-96. [6] [7] The Droyer's Point townhouses were built c2003-04. [8] The complex includes condominium and rental townhomes and apartments, including amenities such as pools, tennis courts, clubhouses and a marina. Completed portions of the Hackensack RiverWalk, a public waterfront promenade which is accessible to the public through entrances outside the development, run along the shoreline.
Originally a tidal marsh, the area was the territory of the Hackensack and Raritan at the time of European contact in the 17th century. They called the area on Minkakwa , meaning a place of good crossing. This is likely so because it was the most convenient pass between two bays (the other being the Upper New York Bay) on either side of the Bergen Neck peninsula and near a natural break in Bergen Hill, the formation that rises to become the Hudson Palisades. Interpreted as place where the coves meet, in this case where they are closest to each, it describes a spot advantageous for portage. Just inland of Droyer's Point the construction of the Morris Canal in the 1830s took advantage of the geology to cut across Pamrapo. The canal then ran parallel to the bay before connecting to the river at a location further to the north. [9] [10] A filled portion of the landmark can still be seen as an unmarked right of way in the nearby Country Village neighborhood.
In the 1920s the land which was owned by the city became the object of development which included land reclamation and the construction of bulkhead, with the intention of expanding the city's port facilities south of the CRRNJ Newark and New York Railroad (which traveled from Downtown Newark across the river and Bergen Hill to Communipaw Terminal). While the planned distribution facilities never materialized, the area did become the site of the short lived Jersey City Airport, which opened in 1927. [11] For a short time the airport was operated by Eddie August Schneider, a native of the city and one of early aviation's youthful celebrities. [12] [13] After the end of World War Two, Jersey Skyports was founded by three former Naval aviators, Edward Selig Binder, John Barteluse, and Bill Christie, and operated for five years. The Jersey City Seaplane Base which was owned by Harry Frank, was later located nearby. [14]
The Art Deco style Roosevelt Stadium was Works Progress Administration project secured by Jersey City Mayor Frank Hague, [12] as was the Jersey City Medical Center. It was named for President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the author of that New Deal agency. Groundbreaking took place in 1935. [15] The baseball park's opening was scheduled for April 22, 1937 with the opening of the 1937 International League season. Mayor Hague declared a half-holiday for the city's schools and employees. New York Giants owner Horace Stoneham was expected at the opener along with Senator A. Harry Moore. [16] Rain washed out the planned events and the opening was postponed until April 23 with Mayor Hague throwing out the first pitch and Sen. Moore and owner Horace Stoneham on hand for the ballpark's dedication. [17]
The stadium was also the home field of the Jersey City Giants, and was used for seven "home" games by the Brooklyn Dodgers during their last couple of seasons in Brooklyn, 1956 and 1957. On April 18, 1946, Roosevelt Stadium hosted the Jersey City Giants' season opener against the Montreal Royals, marking the professional debut of the Royals' Jackie Robinson. The stadium also hosted boxing bouts including fight with Max Baer, "Two Ton" Tony Galento, Marcel Cerdan and Tony Zale. In 1950, Sugar Ray Robinson defended his welterweight title; in 1951, Jersey Joe Walcott beat heavyweight champion Ezzard Charles. During the 1970s the stadium was used every summer as a major concert venue with performances by the Grateful Dead, Allman Brothers Band, Beach Boys, Eric Clapton, Tony Bennett, and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, among others. In November 1982, the Jersey City Council voted to demolish the stadium. [18] It was demolished in 1985. [19] [20]
The district is served by New Jersey Transit buses with service to Journal Square via West Side Avenue. There is discussion to extend the Hudson Bergen Light Rail from the current West Side Avenue (HBLR station) terminus to a location near the waterfront, but there is no projected date for the project. The Danforth Avenue Station is located about a mile to the east. [21] Direct commuter bus service to Manhattan is provided by privately operated NYC Commuter. [22]
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Hudson County is the smallest and most densely populated county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It lies west of the lower Hudson River, which was named for Henry Hudson, the sea captain who explored the area in 1609. Part of New Jersey's Gateway Region in the New York metropolitan area, the county seat is Jersey City, which is the county's largest city in terms of both population and area. The county is part of the North Jersey region of the state.
Newark Bay is a tidal bay at the confluence of the Passaic and Hackensack Rivers in northeastern New Jersey. It is home to the Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal, the largest container shipping facility in Port of New York and New Jersey, the second busiest in the United States. An estuary, it is periodically dredged to accommodate seafaring ships.
NJ Transit Rail Operations is the rail division of NJ Transit. It operates commuter rail service in New Jersey, with most service centered on transportation to and from New York City, Hoboken, and Newark. NJ Transit also operates rail service in Orange and Rockland counties in New York under contract to Metro-North Railroad. The commuter rail lines saw 45,838,200 riders in 2022, making it the third-busiest commuter railroad in North America and the longest commuter rail system in North America by route length.
Roosevelt Stadium was a baseball stadium at Droyer's Point in Jersey City, New Jersey. It opened in April 1937 and hosted high-minor league baseball, 15 major league baseball games, plus championship boxing matches, top-name musical acts, an annual championship drum and bugle corps competition known as "The Dream" (1946–1983), important regional high school football and even soccer matches. It was demolished in 1985.
West Side Avenue station is a station on the Hudson–Bergen Light Rail (HBLR) in the West Side neighborhood in Jersey City, New Jersey. Located on the east side of West Side Avenue, the station is the terminal of the West Side Avenue branch of the Hudson–Bergen Light Rail, with service to Tonnelle Avenue station in North Bergen. The station consists of a single island platform and a pair of tracks that end at the station. The station contains a pedestrian bridge over West Side Avenue to a small parking lot and bus stop on the west side of the street. The station is accessible to people with disabilities, with an elevator in the pedestrian overpass and train-level platforms. West Side Avenue station opened on April 15, 2000 as part of the original operating segment of the Hudson–Bergen Light Rail.
Greenville is the southernmost section of Jersey City in Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.
The Gateway Region is the primary urbanized area of the northeastern section of New Jersey. It is anchored by Newark, the state's most populous city. It is part of the New York metropolitan area.
Bayfront is an urban redevelopment project in Jersey City, New Jersey.
Bergen Hill refers to the lower Hudson Palisades in New Jersey, where they emerge on Bergen Neck, which in turn is the peninsula between the Hackensack and Hudson Rivers, and their bays. In Hudson County, it reaches a height of 260 feet.
Hackensack River Greenway, once known as the Hackensack RiverWalk, a is partially constructed greenway along the Newark Bay and Hackensack River in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States.
South Kearny, also known as Kearny Point, is an industrial district and distinct area of the western part of Hudson County, New Jersey at the northern end of Newark Bay in the town of Kearny, New Jersey. It is on the larger peninsula once called New Barbadoes Neck, which also include the other Kearny districts of the Uplands and the Kearny Meadows. It has been known as Kearny Point and, along Droyer's Point in Jersey City, marks the mouth of the Hackensack River to the east. The Passaic River flows along its western border opposite a similarly industrial portion of the Ironbound district of Newark. Most of the point is part of Foreign-Trade Zone 49.
Bergen was a part of the 17th century province of New Netherland, in the area in northeastern New Jersey along the Hudson and Hackensack Rivers that would become contemporary Hudson and Bergen Counties. Though it only officially existed as an independent municipality from 1661, with the founding of a village at Bergen Square, Bergen began as a factory at Communipaw circa 1615 and was first settled in 1630 as Pavonia. These early settlements were along the banks of the North River across from New Amsterdam, under whose jurisdiction they fell.
The West Side of Jersey City is an area made up of several diverse neighborhoods on either side of West Side Avenue, one of the city's main shopping streets. Parallel and west of Kennedy Boulevard, West Side Avenue carries two county route designations.
West Hudson is the western part of Hudson County, New Jersey comprising the contiguous municipalities of Kearny, Harrison and East Newark, which lies on the peninsula between the Hackensack River and Passaic River.
The West End is the former name of the only neighborhood in Historic Downtown Jersey City, New Jersey that is entirely west of the New Jersey Turnpike's Newark Bay Extension.
The Bergen Section of Jersey City, New Jersey is the neighborhood on either side of Kennedy Boulevard between Saint Peter's College/ McGinley Square and Communipaw Avenue in the Bergen-Lafayette section of the city. The name Bergen, used throughout Hudson County, is taken from the original Bergen, New Netherland settlement at Bergen Square.
The Lincoln Highway Hackensack River Bridge is a vehicular vertical lift bridge crossing the Hackensack River at a point 1.8 mi (2.9 km) from the river mouth at Newark Bay in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. The bridge, along the route of the Lincoln Highway, carries U.S. Route 1/9 Truck and the East Coast Greenway between the West Side of Jersey City and Kearny Point in Kearny. The most recent of many crossings at the location, the current bridge was completed in 1954. It is owned by and operated by the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT), and is required by the Title 33 of the Code of Federal Regulations to open on signal for maritime traffic. In 2007 it was designated the Shawn Carson and Robert Nguyen Memorial Bridge.
Mayor Frank Hague of Jersey City announced yesterday he had been informed that the Works Progress Administration had approved the city's application for an $800,000 grant to build a municipal sports stadium.
Two aviators escaped with only minor bruises and a thorough wetting last night when their three-seat, open-cockpit biplane developed motor trouble soon after taking off from the Jersey City Airport and fell into Newark Bay 200 feet off Droyer's Point, Jersey City. The men were rescued by police, who went to their aid in a collapsible rowboat kept at the field. ... The plane [had] taken off at 7 pm [piloted] by Edward Schneider, 23 years old, of 209 Sip Avenue, Jersey City, former holder of the junior transcontinental plane record and manager of the airport since January 1, 1935.
