In the middle of a global pandemic sometimes it’s the little things.
Monday in Jersey City, there was a small ray of hope for a return to normal with several of the city’s parks ordered to re-opened. It may have been a dreary weather day, but the gates were lifted at Enos Jones, Berry Lane, Audubon, Leonard Gordon and Pershing Field parks, which cover most of the city’s wards.
“We’re opening the five largest parks. It’s kind of the best use of our time and resources. We’ll have police officers here, recreation department personnel here. We’ll be distributing masks. There are signs that have changes so that way people know that there are rules in place, but I do think you have to trust your residents to at some point to use good judgement,” said Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop.
And that means mask, social distancing and no organized sports. The idea is to have outdoor spaces open for more people to get some fresh air in a dense city where apartment dwellers make up a good portion of the population. Inside Pershing Field, long-time resident Heni Elshafie said he was grateful for the return of his neighborhood park.
“When they say it’s open, it gave me hope. We need the hope. We can’t continue to be like that. I’m 65, you think I’m going to survive to be normal again? This is normal for me, you know what I mean,” he said.
So are the openings a hopeful sign that maybe the city’s economic activity will start to re-open?
“A lot of it’s controlled by the governor, but I really hope so. I think that after six, seven weeks of people reading non-stop about coronavirus and COVID-19, people understand the good and the bad,” Fulop said. “Do you wait indefinitely in this environment, which is really not great, or do we slowly start to move in a positive direction? For me, treading water is really not acceptable.”
The business community agrees. For many shops downtown, the existential threat is real. Steve Kalcanides owns Helen’s Pizza and is president of the Special Improvement District on Newark Avenue.
“For these businesses, if it last two or three more weeks, you’re going to have a big majority go under,” said Kalcanides. “Even when things do come back, if you start letting them open up with a limited amount of seating, or a limited amount of customers, that’s not going to be enough to justify the rents that these places pay.”
Gov. Phil Murphy was steadfast on his call to keep state and county parks closed. But as far as city parks he said that was OK.
“Assuming, assuming — and this is a big assumption — social distancing, masks, all of that’s being enforced,” Murphy said during his daily press briefing.
In the meantime, baby steps. It’s not all the outdoor space you would want in a city of almost 300,000, but it’s something. And, when the weather cooperates, it will be most welcome for those of us on whom the walls have begun to close in.
