Jersey City Reservoir

The final day to kayak this season.

We’ll be partnering again with NYC’s Downtown
Boathouse for free kayaking this Saturday, September
27th from 11am until 3pm.

Meet us at the Jefferson Avenue gate, between Central and Summit Avenues, in the Heights section of Jersey City.

We’ll provide everything that you need, for free! Just wear clothes and shoes that can get wet. Everyone is welcome!

Bad weather will cancel and, - sorry! - no raindate.

Click here to download a printable poster.

Please come join us and many thanks to NYC’s
Downtown Boathouse!

The Reservoir will be closed for Labor Day weekend. Have a great holiday!

The Reservoir will be open most Saturdays till the end of October from 10am til 3pm.

Andy Gray and the JC Recreation Department will be hosting free fishing at Jefferson Avenue gate on the 2nd and 4th Saturdays in September and October. A limited number of poles, and bait, will be provided.

We will be partnering with NYC’s downtown Boathouse for free kayaking on September 27th from 11am until 3pm.

Thanks to the Journal’s reporter Lisa Chen and to photographers Don McCoy and Richard McCormack for covering our summer program!

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Click here for more from the Jersey Journal.

Nature Day, after being rained out on Saturday, was a big success on Sunday. Kids and adults played awareness games like Flinchmaster and Silent Stalk, helped make fire by friction with a bow set, and participated in an Environmental Scavenger hunt, testing water quality and identifying fish, birds, and bugs!

Scavenger Hunt winners were

1. Tyler Vitale
2. Anthony Senerchia
3. Hank Longo
4. Andrew McGrath
5. Adam Gellman
6. Rachel Gellman

Thanks to all who participated!

Our Saturday event got started, but we got chased away by some intense thunderstorms.

Nature Day is rescheduled for tomorrow, with games and nature skills starting promptly at noon, and one Scavenger Hunt at 1 pm. The gate will be open from noon to about 2pm. See you there!

click here to download our poster

Pershing Plaza Gate, across from Troy Street and Summit Avenue

At Jersey City’s Reservoir’s Nature Day, the fun will start Saturday morning as participants connect to nature in our community. Students, seniors and families will explore the ecology of the Reservoir, participate in an environmental scavenger hunt, and learn some basic survival skills. There will be prizes and giveaways.

Nature can seem far from us as city people, but global warming and events like Hurricane Katrina show how environmental disruption affects everyone deeply. Reservoir Nature Day participants can help protect our environment’s future.

Schedule

• Scavenger Hunts will start at 11 and 1, with a Mini-Hunt at 3. Teams will explore the water, trees, bugs, and plant species of the Reservoir.
• Games to test your awareness will start at 10:30, 12:30, and 2:30.
• Learn wilderness and survival skills throughout the day.
• Jersey City Reservoir’s Nature Day will happen from 10 until 4 on Saturday, August 2, at the Jersey City Reservoir 3, Pershing Plaza Gate, across from Summit Avenue and Troy Street.

Nature is all around us, even in Jersey City, and our goal is stir passion and curiosity and start residents on an adventure in our environment, beginning at our Reservoir!

A special thanks to all those who made this possible - the City of Jersey City, Mayor Jerramiah Healy, the Municipal Council, Mariano Vega, President, the Division Of Cultural Affairs, and to all our sponsors including HSBC bank.

For more info contact -

Jersey City Reservoir Preservation Alliance

Steven Latham

201-656-5235

jcreservoir@gmail.com

We had our first kayaking day, and it was a great success! A beautiful and breezy day, not too hot, and lots of people out on the water. Thanks to Sandy Sobanski and Downtown Boathouse for their great efforts, and to Richard McCormack and the Jersey Journal for the great pics and news item!

Note that the Fishing Derby, originally scheduled for June 14th, has been postponed.

The Reservoir is facing a couple of challenges this year which we’re hoping to have resolved as soon as possible so that it can open each Saturday as it has in years past.

Due to the tremendous amount of rainfall this Spring, the water levels of the Reservoir are higher than ever–the land areas around the lake are almost non- existent, making fishing and walking around the lake nearly impossible. There is currently no way of regulating the Reservoir’s water level–it rises and falls in conjunction with rainfall. In order to ensure use of the Reservoir this summer, the Reservoir Preservation Alliance is working with environmental engineers and the City of Jersey City to lower the lake level in a way regulated and approved by the NJ Dept of Environmental Protection.

Looking west on south wall from Jefferson Ave. gate.  This was a path about 10-15′ wide to west wall, now underwater.

In addition, safety issues due to the lack of proper fencing on the west, south and east walls of the Reservoir have become of the utmost concern. When the Reservoir is open, the east and west sides will only be accessible through a guided tour in order to prevent injury. The south side will be open from Jefferson Ave to the lake edge.

Note that the Fishing Derby that was originally scheduled for June 14th has been postponed due the high water levels of the Reservoir. The Reservoir will continue to be open most Saturdays from 11am starting on June 20th, but will NOT be open Saturday, July 5th.

Andy Gray and the JC Recreation Department will have the Jefferson Ave gate of the Reservoir open for fishing on the first and third Saturdays of each month.

Please look for our schedule of summer events to be announced as quickly as possible and thanks for your support!

Thank you to all the great volunteers from HSBC bank, who did a tremendous job sprucing up trails, planting wildflower and butterfly gardens, and removing invasive plants!

Also to HSBC bank for their very generous contribution!

See our Photo Galleries for more.

Thanks to all who attended!

Over 250 people attended the Reservoir Benefit Gala on June 14th at the Liberty House Restaurant in Liberty State Park.
Thanks again to the co-sponsors: The Office of the Mayor, The Jersey City Municipal Council, and The Division of Cultural Affairs.
For those who didn’t attend, the Honorees were those who have had exceptional influence on the success of the Reservoir:
Mayor Jerramiah Healy
Council President Mariano Vega
Steve Latham, President of JCRPA
Capt. Bill Sheehan, Hackensack Riverkeeper
Joshua Parkhurst, JC Landmarks Conservancy
Michael Yun
Hoboken Cover Boathouse
and presenting the John Hogger Memorial to Nikki Sirken for exceptional volunteering service.
Thank you to all those who were unable to attend but still sent a donation! If you would like to send a donation, please make checks payable to the Jersey City Landmark Conservancy and mail to:
THE JERSEY CITY RESERVOIR PRESERVATION ALLIANCE
P.O. Box 7833
Jersey City, NJ 07307