Sixth Street Embankment moves closer to becoming a generational Greenway asset

JERSEY CITY, New Jersey — After decades of local advocacy by the Embankment Preservation Coalition and other local partners — with support from the East Coast Greenway Alliance — Jersey City’s Sixth Street Embankment has taken a key step toward becoming a vibrant multi-use trail. Supporters say the vacant, mile-long elevated train line could one day rival New York City’s famed High Line.

In November, Jersey City’s council unanimously voted to support a settlement agreement that will “transform the overgrown Sixth Street Embankment into a scenic haven for walking and sightseeing,” according to NJ.com. This move, which follows decades of community engagement and years of legal negotiation, will positively impact generations to come.

Built in the early 20th century as a railroad to service New Jersey and New York’s booming economies and population, the Embankment is a massive, segmented stone structure that once supported the Harsimus Branch, formerly Pennsylvania Railroad’s freightway into New York Harbor.

“The iconic Embankment is a symbol both of Jersey City’s history and of its future,” said East Coast Greenway Alliance New Jersey & New York Manager Sofia Barandiaran. “Since the end of train service, the Embankment has seen remarkable flourishing of plants and animals in the heart of urban Jersey City. Meadows and forests reemerged, forming a remarkable post-industrial ecology that gives us a glimpse into North Jersey’s natural history.”

When complete, the mile-long Sixth Street Embankment will serve as a highlight of the East Coast Greenway route in New Jersey, forming a key segment of the transformative connection between New Jersey’s two largest cities, Newark and Jersey City. It will bring Garden State residents and visitors together while connecting them to the surrounding natural environment — a hub for recreation, active transportation and local economic growth.

“This is a historic moment for Jersey City,” said Stephen Gucciardo, president of the Embankment Preservation Coalition. “This settlement provides the City of Jersey City with more than five acres of public open space, the preservation of a 40-year-old urban forest, the protection of a landmark to our railroad history and a link to the Bergen Arches and a recently acquired linear state park — The Greenway — that together make up the proposed off-road route for the East Coast Greenway through Hudson County and beyond.”

Currently in New Jersey, 53% of the East Coast Greenway’s 96.5-mile spine route is complete.

The Embankment has been recommended as a potential segment of the East Coast Greenway since 2004, and the Alliance team has long seen the potential of the project for both the local community and as a future highlight of its developing Maine-to-Florida route.

"This preservation moment took 27 years and more than 'a village.' Local and statewide organizations and thousands of individuals fueled our all-volunteer grassroots initiative. National organizations have been our partners since 2003, when Elizabeth Brody and Mike Kruimer organized the New Jersey Committee for the East Coast Greenway and we started to look at how to get a trail through the most densely built out part of the state,” said Maureen Crowley, coordinator of the Embankment Preservation Coalition. “In 2005, Rails to Trails Conservancy joined the City of Jersey City and the Embankment Coalition as our litigation partners, and The National Trust for Historic Preservation was our friend in federal courts.”

In addition to longtime volunteer advocates Brody and Kruimer, Bruce Donald, now the Alliance’s Southern New England Manager, supported this project for many years, regularly attending meetings in Jersey City during his previous East Coast Greenway role. Barandiaran has continued to work closely with the Embankment Coalition, attending events and advocating for this settlement with letters of support since joining the Alliance team in 2024.

"I remember marveling at the potential of this corridor 15 years ago," said East Coast Greenway Executive Director Dennis Markatos-Soriano. "I'm proud that we have now reached the moment when we can turn it into New Jersey's High Line, a linear park that gives the people of North Jersey a break from the bustling cityscape and a deeper connection with the region's natural wildlife."

The Embankment has drawn comparisons to New York City’s High Line, also a former elevated rail line across the Hudson River. The High Line opened its first segment in 2009 and today is a continuous, 1.45-mile-long greenway that welcomes an estimated 8 million visitors annually.

Both projects, as well as the growing network of greenways and trails throughout the region, offer unparalleled access to nature in the New York-Newark-Jersey City metro area, which is home to nearly 20 million people.

What comes next for the Embankment project? Design work with an eye on preserving the natural corridor that has developed atop the abandoned rail line.

“Here in Jersey City, nine blocks from City Hall, stands what might be the only naturally seeded downtown forest in the world. We didn't plant a single tree or spend a single taxpayer dollar maintaining it. Yet this forest thrives,” said Sean Gallagher, chair of the Embankment Coalition's design committee. “We must build within this forest with a light touch, with natural materials and with a respect for the living ecosystem already there in order to preserve this natural wonder for future generations.”

Adds Barandiaran, “The East Coast Greenway Alliance looks forward to collaborating with our partners to help shape the design of the corridor, move the Embankment towards construction and eventually connect it to the growing East Coast Greenway route in Northern New Jersey and New York.”