embankment.JPG

The Sixth Street Embankment at Erie Street in Downtown Jersey City has been in the middle of a battle between would-be developers and those who want to preserve open space.

(Jersey Journal file photo)

A federal judge last week ruled that the Sixth Street Embankment in Jersey City is indeed a rail line, a decision that city officials believe could lead to the city someday owning the disputed property.

Mayor Steve Fulop hailed the Sept. 30 ruling as “another clear win” for the city, which wants to transform some of the elevated abandoned rail line into a public park similar to the High Line in Manhattan. A lawyer for developer Steve Hyman, who purchased the 6.5-acre parcel from Conrail in 2006, shrugged.

“It doesn’t give them a park,” attorney Dan Horgan said about the ruling. “It just exposes this to years of litigation … it doesn’t get anyone anywhere.”

Jersey City has argued that Conrail should have gone through an abandonment process before it sold the embankment to Hyman and his wife, Victoria. Federal transportation rules require owners of abandoned lines to go through this process before selling, a process that could give the city first crack at purchasing it.

But Conrail had argued that the embankment was a spur, not a line, and so was not subject to the abandonment process. In her Sept. 30 ruling, federal Judge Amy Berman Jackson tossed that argument.

“This is another clear win for the city and now both momentum and leverage are in the city’s favor," Fulop said. “The developer can continue to waste his money and appeal, which we don’t mind at all, but I feel comfortable in the fact that we will eventually have a showcase linear park in Jersey City that the entire city can enjoy.”

Conrail spokesman John Enright said his company doesn't comment on pending litigation.

"We'll continue to work with all of the parties in an attempt to reach an amicable settlement of the matter," Enright said.

Horgan said his clients would likely appeal last week’s ruling. He also disputed city officials’ belief that the decision could lead to the city owning the property.

“It’s one additional step in a process that’s gone on for eight years that’s cost the taxpayers of Jersey City millions of dollars,” Horgan said. “It won’t resolve itself this year or next year or the year after.”