Morris Pesin's two-decade odyssey to create open public space on the New Jersey side of the Statue of Liberty became a reality in 1976, when Liberty State Park opened.

Just one year later, a proposal to build a massive theme park on the site was beaten down by public outcry.

Four years after that, in 1981, came a new proposal -- the theme park, plus 8,000 luxury condos and a doll museum in the old railroad terminal at the park. Once again, the plans were beaten back by the public.

In 1986, there were plans for a 25,000-seat amphitheater. Then, two separate golf course proposals. Next in 2001, a water park. Then, another concert venue. And, an indoor sportsplex the size of an Amazon warehouse. Then, seriously, a Formula One racetrack. It went on like this until 2015, when the Gov. Chris Christie administration floated the idea of privatizing the park for use as a hotel and convention center. Each time, opposition won out. But, still ...

"You can see why we're paranoid," said Greg Remaud, deputy director of the NY/NJ Baykeeper, a nonprofit group that protects and restores the metro area's estuaries.

The park, with access to Manhattan and Jersey City, stunning views and waterfront property, is the most valuable piece of undeveloped solid ground in the metropolitan area.

It is the largest swath of open space - from the George Washington Bridge to the Verrazano - on both sides of the Hudson River and New York Harbor. Only Central Park, at 843 acres, comes close to Liberty State Park's 1,212 acres.

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No wonder a lot of people want to get their hands on it. That's the continuing fight for the Friends of Liberty State Park and other environmental advocacy groups. They keep winning the battles, but the war never ends.

The latest proposal snaking through the marsh grass is a possible giant marina on the south side of the park. This is the quiet area, far from the stampede of tourists ferrying to and from the State of Liberty and Ellis Island.

The south side is for locals. It has picnic benches, a playground and an expansive lawn in the shadow of the statue and leads to a walkway along the harbor.

"This is the urban area's backyard," said Sam Pesin, president of the Friends of Liberty State Park, who has led many of the fights to save the land from development since his father's death in 1992.

It's a line he's used many times, and is as relevant today as it was when the park opened 41 years ago. Maybe more so. Since that bicentennial year, development has transformed Jersey City and Lower Manhattan into a glass-and-steel Oz, looming over the park's northern and eastern edges.

Also on the north side is the 520-slip Liberty Landing Marina with a 24-hour refueling operation and dry-dock area, with two large restaurants, and water taxis running in and out of Battery Park.

Add to that the chunk of the statue's 4.5 million visitors a year who come from the Jersey side, and it's clear why park protectionists see the south side "as sacred ground," as Pesin called it.

Now comes word of a new marina, run by Suntex the Dallas-based company that operates Liberty Landing on the north side. As part of Suntex's lease agreement with the state, the company has the right of first refusal should the state allow a second marina.

When Christie proposed his redevelopment plan, Suntex exercised that right and developed a proposal for a south side marina.

"The last plan we saw was a year-and-a-half ago and it was bigger than the one on the north side," Remaud said.

That plan called for a 500-yard-long marina that would run the entire length of the park. The slips for mega-yachts would be at the end closest to open water, interrupting the expansive view of the harbor out to Staten Island and the Verrazano Bridge.

"This panoramic view is priceless," Pesin said. "To have it ruined by yachts is contrary to the democratic spirit of Liberty State Park. This free park is for everybody."

But, as of now, no one knows if it's the same proposal or scaled down.

"Nobody has seen it," Remaud said. We've filed OPRA (Open Public Records Act) requests (with the state Department of Environmental Protection, which oversees the park) but they keep stalling us."

But park advocates say they're heard from several people - including local Assembly representatives, Raj Mukherji and Angela McKnight, that the second marina is back on the drawing board.

Park advocates fear that the "first right of refusal" in the lease agreement for Liberty Landing is a tacit approval for a new marina.

"We're afraid there is a contract in place that can circumvent public hearings, and that can't be undone by the next administration (of Governor-elect Phil Murphy," said Remaud.

Larry Hajna, the spokesmen for the state Department of Environmental Protection, which oversees all parks, said the public will not be excluded from the process - if, in fact, there is a plan.

"If there is a proposal, there will be public hearings," Hajna said. "The DEP is committed to transparency."

Asked if there was a plan, Hajna said "there is always in ongoing dialogue with our lessees around the state. But any significant proposed changes to operations at Liberty State Park -- or any of our public facilities -- would undergo a public process, as they always have."

Sam Pesin was 7 years old when his father packed up the family for a trip to the Statue of Liberty in 1957.

"I remember how incensed he was that we had to fight traffic, go through the tunnel to Manhattan, get a ferry at Battery Park to visit the statute that was 8 minutes from Jersey City," Pesin said.

That was the impetus for the crusade that became Liberty State Park. And the continued battle to retain Morris Pesin's idea, and legacy, of a free park with wide open spaces is the motivation for Sam Pesin's own ongoing crusade.

It continues this Saturday with a group picture to protest a south-side marina of any kind. Pesin is expecting 75 people but wants more.

"We think this is a good way to show the public is against the ruination of this park," he said.

The photo will be taken at 11 a.m.

If you're interested, it won't be hard to find. Just follow the park's Morris Pesin Drive all the way to the end.