Liberty State Park dirty deal on hold

A new chance to stop a warehouse in the People’s Park

The rushed and reckless plan to industrialize Liberty State Park with a massive luxury yacht storage warehouse is on hold — but not dead. That pause gives the public a critical new opportunity to stop what may be the biggest betrayal of public land in New Jersey history.

In the final days of the Murphy Administration, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) pushed through approval for a 60-year lease that would allow Suntex Marina Investors to build a 75-foot-high industrial warehouse to store 500 luxury yachts on three acres of Liberty State Park, while continuing private control over 10 additional acres of public land.

This deal was rushed, deeply flawed, and driven through despite unanimous public opposition. It was approved in a remote Zoom meeting, not in person, with widespread technical problems that interfered with public participation and undermined transparency.

Approved — but not signed

On January 15, the New Jersey State House Commission voted 5-2 to approve the Suntex lease. Not a single member of the public spoke in favor of it. The meeting itself was plagued by technical failures that prevented many people from testifying, raising serious due-process concerns.

Crucially, however, the lease has not been signed.

According to DEP spokesman Larry Hajna, the lease agreement between DEP and Suntex “is still being drafted and has not been signed.” Under New Jersey law, State House Commission approval alone is not enough. A lease involving DEP-owned parkland is not valid unless it is fully executed, including the signature of the DEP commissioner. Without that signature, the diversion of protected parkland is legally void and unenforceable.

Outgoing DEP Commissioner Shawn LaTourette — who aggressively pushed this unpopular deal — did not sign the lease before leaving office. Whether that was because he didn’t get to keep his job or wanted to put the new administration in a tough spot, he knew how toxic the deal was, faced outside pressure, or wanted to avoid responsibility, the result is the same: the deal stalled.

That means the fate of Liberty State Park now rests squarely with Governor Mikie Sherrill and her nominee for DEP commissioner, Ed Potosnak. This should be a central issue in the confirmation process and an early test of whether this new administration will protect public land or side with the privatization of our precious public lands.

A lame-duck power grab

This proposal represents everything that is broken about how public land is treated in New Jersey.

The Murphy Administration attempted to jam through a 60-year privatization deal in its final days — a classic lame-duck maneuver — locking in decades of damage without accountability. The project was falsely portrayed as routine, when in reality it is a permanent industrialization of protected parkland.

DEP officials even tried to rebrand the warehouse as an “enclosure,” a deceptive term that masks the truth: a towering industrial structure looming over one of America’s most iconic parks, directly behind the Statue of Liberty.

Liberty State Park is not surplus land. It is a People’s Park, created as New Jersey’s Bicentennial gift to the nation and protected by Green Acres funding and the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). Those programs legally restrict the land to outdoor public recreation and conservation. A private luxury yacht warehouse violates both the purpose and conditions of that funding.

New Jersey has always stood behind the Statue of Liberty. In approving this deal, the Murphy Administration stabbed her in the back. Governor Sherrill now has the ability — and the obligation — to stop this betrayal of the public trust.

A bad deal by any measure

The lease is indefensible on legal, environmental, fiscal, and public-policy grounds.

Industrial land in Jersey City sells for roughly $12.8 million per acre. The land Suntex seeks is worth over $165 million, yet the state is preparing to lease it away for a fraction of its value — while permanently degrading irreplaceable public open space.

If privately owned, that land would generate millions of dollars each year in local tax revenue. Instead, the public loses the land, loses the revenue, and gets stuck with an industrial eyesore.

Suntex has attempted to justify the project by offering $30 million for bulkhead repairs, but this is not a benefit — it is a pre-existing obligation. Prior marina leases already require the operator to maintain and replace the bulkhead. Turning required maintenance into a bargaining chip is a cynical attempt to purchase public land with money they already owe.

Even worse, Suntex continues to control 10 acres of public lawn that were improperly included in its original 1987 lease and should have been returned to the public decades ago. That alone raises serious legal questions about lease expansion without authorization.

Clear legal violations

Beyond bad policy, this deal raises serious legal red flags:

• Public Trust Doctrine: Liberty State Park is held in trust for the people. The state cannot convey or encumber parkland for private industrial use unless it clearly serves a public purpose — which a luxury yacht warehouse does not.
• Green Acres and LWCF Violations: Federal and state funding conditions prohibit conversion of parkland to non-recreational use without strict approvals and replacement land of equal value. No such lawful conversion has occurred.
• Illegal Diversion: Without a signed lease executed by the DEP commissioner, any attempted diversion of parkland is void under New Jersey law.
• Improper Expansion: Federal approvals from the National Park Service limited marina development decades ago. Expanding beyond that footprint violates the original Record of Decision.
• Due Process Failures: The flawed remote hearing, lack of meaningful public participation, and rushed lame-duck approval expose the deal to legal challenge.

The decision now belongs to Governor Sherrill

Governor Sherrill has the power to stop this deal — permanently.

The DEP commissioner can simply refuse to sign the lease, killing it outright. While the governor could have vetoed the State House Commission minutes, the most important action now is clear: cancel the lease, don’t rewrite it. Renegotiation only legitimizes a deal that should never exist.

If the governor can declare emergencies on energy affordability, she can defend Liberty State Park. If she cancels the lease, let Suntex sue. This is a fight worth having.

Either way, the people will sue to stop this lease if it moves forward.

Governor Sherrill and Commissioner Potosnak will be judged by what they do next. They can either side with millionaire yachts and industrialization, or with the people and Liberty State Park.

We are just getting started

This dirty deal is on hold — the public will continue to fight it. That pressure will continue.

Liberty State Park is our Yellowstone. Our Yosemite. A priceless urban treasure that belongs to the people of New Jersey and the nation — not to Suntex, not to billionaires, and not to backroom deals.

The 50th anniversary of Liberty State Park is coming up. Governor Sherrill should cancel the Suntex lease before the celebration!

We have just begun to fight this horrendous project.

And we will stop it.