connecting downtown Jersey City to Liberty State Park seven months after it was swept away by Hurricane Sandy but according to the latest estimates the park's rebuilding is far from over.
Park Superintendent Robert Rodriguez estimates that it may take two years before the park fully recovers from the $20 million in damages caused by Sandy, according to an email by the Friends of Liberty State Park, an all volunteer nonprofit dedicated to the protection and advocacy of the park.
Officials expect the park's light posts and the Hudson River Walkway to be repaired by the end of the year. Picnic and playground areas are also expect to be open to the public sometime this summer, the email says.
Repairs at the park's historic railroad terminal building at the east end of Audrey Zapp Drive may be finalized in two years as the facility undergoes renovations to its damaged interior.
The park's nature center, which sustained damaged to its floors, walls, and roof, may also be ready to open in two years. The public boat launch is now open, the email says, adding that replacement needs to be made to the floating dock and ticket machine.
The Department of Environment Protection has also hired a disaster management consulting company to assist park officials with FEMA paperwork and bureaucracy.
The park is open 7 days a week from 6 a.m. to dusk.