#1 of 30 Things To Do in Jersey City
Lincoln Park
Jersey City NJ
~0.54 miles from Jersey City city center
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#2 of 30 Things To Do in Jersey City
Jersey City (Neighborhood)
New York City NY
~0.68 miles from Jersey City city center
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#3 of 30 Things To Do in Jersey City
New Jersey City University
Jersey City NJ
~0.83 miles from Jersey City city center
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#4 of 30 Things To Do in Jersey City
Loew's Jersey Theater
Jersey City NJ
~1.20 miles from Jersey City city center
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#5 of 30 Things To Do in Jersey City
Justice William Brennan Courthouse
Jersey City NJ
~1.49 miles from Jersey City city center
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#6 of 30 Things To Do in Jersey City
Jersey City Museum
Jersey City NJ
~1.61 miles from Jersey City city center
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#7 of 30 Things To Do in Jersey City
Liberty Science Center
Jersey City NJ
~1.67 miles from Jersey City city center
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#8 of 30 Things To Do in Jersey City
Jersey City Public Library
Jersey City NJ
~1.77 miles from Jersey City city center
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#9 of 30 Things To Do in Jersey City
Jersey City City Hall
Jersey City NJ
~1.97 miles from Jersey City city center
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#10 of 30 Things To Do in Jersey City
Hamilton Park
Jersey City NJ
~2.01 miles from Jersey City city center
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#11 of 30 Things To Do in Jersey City
Liberty State Park
Jersey City NJ
~2.18 miles from Jersey City city center
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#12 of 30 Things To Do in Jersey City
Hudson and Manhattan Railroad Powerhouse
Jersey City NJ
~2.35 miles from Jersey City city center
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#13 of 30 Things To Do in Jersey City
Newport Center Mall
Jersey City NJ
~2.40 miles from Jersey City city center
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#14 of 30 Things To Do in Jersey City
Colgate Clock
Jersey City NJ
~2.49 miles from Jersey City city center
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The familiar octagonal Colgate clock, facing Manhattan, dates back to 1924 when it was set in motion on December 1 by Jersey City's Mayor Frank Hague. Located on the former site of Colgate-Palmolive & Company, it is a reminder of the time when factories dominated the Jersey City's waterfront. Its design was inspired by Colgate's Octagon Soap, a cleansing bar that is no longer produced. The surface of the clock is 1,963.5 square feet and 50 feet in diameter. The minute hand is 25 feet, 10 inches long; the hour hand is 20 feet long. The timepiece can be adjusted and is maintained to stay within one minute of accurate time. There was a small master clock at Colgate that was checked against the US Naval Observatory in Washington, DC. The clock's mechanism is like that of a traditional wall clock with weights and wheels but is powered by twenty-eight large-volt batteries that are recharged.
After almost thirty-one years of enduring the elements, the clock was stopped at 9:30 a.m. on June 13, 1955, for repairs. A New York Times article reports that ". . . the laminated wooden hands, waterlogged on wet or humid days . . . , had Colgate mechanics bowlegged changing counterweights to keep the time just right. . . . Another fault had developed, too. The steel trusses that support the hands had rusted. The new clock hands will have an aluminum core with porcelained steel facing. They and the quarter-hour points will have fluorescent lighting when the clock get going again, instead of the old incandescents" (Meyer Berger, "About New York." New York Times 11 July 1955). The replacement of the clock's hands took longer than expected, prompting hundreds of calls to the company by those counting on the clock to keep them on schedule. The installation finally took place on July 28 and July 29, and the dependable timepiece was operating again in a week ("New Hands on Big Clock." New York Times 30 July 1955). The dimensions to the hands were altered by counterbalances making for inconsistencies in published measurements of the timepiece.
Today's landmark clock replaces an earlier and smaller clock designed by Colgate engineer Warren Day and built by the Seth Thomas Company for the centennial of the founding of Colgate in 1906. The clock, 38 feet in diameter, was made of structural steel and its face of stainless steel slats. It was part of an assembly, installed in 1908, that was set upon the roof of an eight-story warehouse at the southeast corner of York and Hudson Streets, which was also built for the company's anniversary. Engineer William P. Field designed the 200-foot-long and 40-foot-high sign for both the clock and advertisement "COLGATE'S SOAPS-PERFUMES" in 20-foot-high letters. It was illuminated at night by 1,607 bulbs emitting 28,000 watts of light. From the Jersey City waterfront, it was visible some twenty miles away to Staten Island and the Bronx. It received acclaim as an identifying symbol of the company as well as for its practicality. When replaced by the present-day clock, it was retired to Jeffersonville, Indiana.
The Colgate's Soap and Perfumery Works, later Colgate-Palmolive Peet, was founded by William Colgate in 1806. He began as a manufacturer of starch, soap and candles with a shop on John and Dutch Streets in New York City. When he moved his company to Paulus Hook (Jersey City) in 1820 to produce starch, it was referred to as "Colgate's Folly." The company instead flourished and had a sizable complex in Jersey City by 1847; it made chemically produced soap and perfume but eventually gave up perfume production. Upon the death of William Colgate in 1857, his son Samuel reorganized the company as Colgate & Company. It took on brand products such as Cashmere Bouquet, perhaps the first perfumed soap, and revolutionized dental care with toothpaste sold in jars in 1873. It also packaged toothpaste in a "collapsible" tube in 1896.
Jersey City became the corporate headquarters for Colgate in 1910. It merged with the Palmolive-Peet Company, previously separate soap manufacturers, and formed the Colgate-Palmolive-Peet Company in 1928. It was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1930 and occupied a modern plant for its time over a six-block area of York, Greene, Hudson and Grand Streets by the 1950s.
Overlooking the Hudson River, the octagonal Colgate clock and signage perched on a company structure remained unaltered until 1983. The signage "Soaps-Perfumes" was removed and a toothpaste tube, advertising one of Colgate's best selling products, took its place. Two years later and after 141 years in Jersey City, Colgate decided to leave, citing the need for improved facilities that its original manufacturing complex could not provide. The entire complex was razed, and the clock, without the toothpaste tube, was lowered to ground level as a freestanding icon on the future Goldman Sachs property, where it stood for fifteen years. The 24-acre site became part of the redevelopment of the Jersey City waterfront at Exchange Place that began in the early 1990s.
The emblematic clock now remains on a lot, south of the Goldman Sachs Tower, that is leased to Colgate-Palmolive by the State of New Jersey awaiting its future. Time will tell!
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#15 of 30 Things To Do in Jersey City
Goldman Sachs Tower
Jersey City NJ
~2.50 miles from Jersey City city center
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#16 of 30 Things To Do in Jersey City
Ellis Island Immigration Museum
Manhattan NY
~2.55 miles from Jersey City city center
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Ellis Island, at the mouth of the Hudson River in New York Harbor, is the location of what was from January 1, 1892, until November 12, 1954 the main entry facility for immigrants entering the United States; the facility replaced the state-run Castle Garden Immigration Depot (1855–1890) in Manhattan. It is owned by the Federal government and is now part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument, under the jurisdiction of the US National Park Service. Ellis Island was also the subject of a border dispute between the states of New York and New Jersey (see below). It is situated predominantly in Jersey City, New Jersey, although a small portion of its territory falls within neighboring New York City.
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#17 of 30 Things To Do in Jersey City
Ellis Island
Manhattan NY
~2.56 miles from Jersey City city center
Hotels Close to Ellis Island
Ellis Island, at the mouth of the Hudson River in New York Harbor, is the location of what was from January 1, 1892, until November 12, 1954 the main entry facility for immigrants entering the United States; the facility replaced the state-run Castle Garden Immigration Depot (1855–1890) in Manhattan. It is owned by the Federal government and is now part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument, under the jurisdiction of the US National Park Service. Ellis Island was also the subject of a border dispute between the states of New York and New Jersey (see below). It is situated predominantly in Jersey City, New Jersey, although a small portion of its territory falls within neighboring New York City.
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#18 of 30 Things To Do in Jersey City
Statue of Liberty
Brooklyn NY
~2.91 miles from Jersey City city center
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#19 of 30 Things To Do in Jersey City
Hoboken (Neighborhood)
New York City NY
~3.20 miles from Jersey City city center
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#20 of 30 Things To Do in Jersey City
Rockefeller Park
Manhattan NY
~3.43 miles from Jersey City city center
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#21 of 30 Things To Do in Jersey City
Museum of Jewish Heritage
Manhattan NY
~3.49 miles from Jersey City city center
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#22 of 30 Things To Do in Jersey City
Castle Clinton National Monument
Manhattan NY
~3.59 miles from Jersey City city center
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Although Castle Garden was designated a national monument on August 12, 1946, the law did not take effect until July 18, 1950, when the legislature and the governor of New York (Thomas Dewey) formally ceded ownership of the property to the Federal Government. A major rehabilitation took place in the 1970s. Today it is administered by the National Park Service and is a departure point for visitors to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. It appears much as it did in its earliest days, contains a museum, and is again called Castle Clinton.
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#23 of 30 Things To Do in Jersey City
World Trade Center - Ground Zero
Manhattan NY
~3.66 miles from Jersey City city center
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The construction of the new World Trade Center (WTC) is well underway. It will build a brighter, more vibrant future for downtown New York with superior commercial space, a modernized and more convenient transportation system, and cultural and highly commemorative destinations.
http://www.wtc.com/
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#24 of 30 Things To Do in Jersey City
FDNY Memorial
Manhattan NY
~3.68 miles from Jersey City city center
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9-11 Memorial Wall, a Gift from Holland & Knight LLP,
is Dedicated to New York City Firefighters
in Ceremony at Engine 10 Ladder 10
June 10, 2006
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#25 of 30 Things To Do in Jersey City
National Museum of the American Indian
Manhattan NY
~3.70 miles from Jersey City city center
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#26 of 30 Things To Do in Jersey City
Trinity Church
Manhattan NY
~3.71 miles from Jersey City city center
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#27 of 30 Things To Do in Jersey City
Battery Park (Neighborhood)
Manhattan NY
~3.71 miles from Jersey City city center
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Battery Park is a 25-acre (10 hectare) public park located at the Battery, the southern tip of the New York City borough of Manhattan, facing New York Harbor. The Battery is named for the artillery battery that was stationed there at various times by the Dutch and British in order to protect the settlements behind it. At the north end of the park is Pier A, formerly a fireboat station and Hope Garden, a memorial to AIDS victims. At the other end is Battery Gardens restaurant, next to the United States Coast Guard Battery Building. Along the waterfront, ferries depart for the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. There is also a stop on the New York Water Taxi route between the Statue of Liberty Ferry and Pier A.
To the northwest of the park lies Battery Park City, a planned community built on landfill in the 1970s and 80s, which includes Robert F. Wagner Park and the Battery Park City Promenade. Together with Hudson River Park, a system of greenspaces, bikeways and promenades now extend up the Hudson shoreline. A bikeway is being built through the park that will connect the Hudson River and East River parts of the Manhattan Waterfront Greenway. Across State Street to the northeast stands the old U.S. Customs House, now used as a branch of the National Museum of the American Indian and the district U.S. Bankruptcy Court. Peter Minuit Plaza abuts the southeast end of the park, directly in front of the South Ferry Terminal of the Staten Island Ferry.
The southern shoreline of Manhattan Island had long been known as the Battery, and was a popular promenade since at least the 17th century. The Battery was the center of Evacuation Day celebrations commemorating the departure of the last British troops in the United States after the American Revolutionary War. The relatively modern park was created by landfill during the 19th century, resulting in a landscaped open space at the foot of the heavily developed mainland of downtown. Skyscrapers now occupy most of the original land, stopping abruptly where the park begins. On State Street, the former harbor front and the northern boundary of the park, a single Federal mansion survives (illustration, right) as the Shrine of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton. Until the 1820s, the city's stylish residential district lay north of this house, between Broadway and the "North River" (now known as the Hudson River).
Within the park lies Castle Clinton, an American fort built on a small artificial off-shore island immediately prior to the War of 1812 and named for mayor DeWitt Clinton. When the land of Battery Park was created, it enclosed the island.
The fort became property of the city after the war and was renamed Castle Garden. Leased by the city it became a popular promenade and beer garden. Later roofed-over, it became one of the premier theatrical venues in the United States and contributed greatly to the development of New York City as the theater capital of the nation. The migration of the city's elite uptown increased concurrently with the mass European emigration of the middle 19th century. As immigrants settled the Battery area, the location was less favorable to theater patrons and Castle Garden was closed. The structure was then made into the world's first immigration depot, processing millions of immigrants beginning in 1855 - almost 40 years before its successor, Ellis Island, opened its doors. This period coincided with immigration waves resulting from the Great Hunger in Ireland (a.k.a., "The Irish Famine") and other pivotal European events. The structure then housed the New York Aquarium until the 1940s, when it was threatened with destruction. It is currently a National Monument known again by its original name, and managed by the National Park Service. In addition to a small history exhibit and occasional concerts, the fort is the site where ferry tickets are sold to visit Liberty and Ellis islands.
The Battery is featured in the famous show tune from the musical On the Town, "New York, New York," which includes the line ". . . the Bronx is up and the Battery's down" for its southerly location. It is also mentioned in John Mayer's song "City Love," which includes the lyric "From the Battery to the Gallery" in reference to the entirety of Manhattan Island as well as the lyric "...from the Battery to the top of Manhattan" in The Beastie Boys anthem "Open Letter to NYC".
Five months after being damaged but not destroyed in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Fritz Koenig's The Sphere which once stood at the center of the plaza of the World Trade Center a few blocks away, was reinstalled in a temporary location along Eisenhower Mall in the northern section of the park. There, along with an eternal flame, it serves to memorialize the victims of 9/11. Following the completion of the National September 11 Memorial, The Sphere will be returned to its original location.
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#28 of 30 Things To Do in Jersey City
New York Stock Exchange
Manhattan NY
~3.79 miles from Jersey City city center
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#29 of 30 Things To Do in Jersey City
Wall Street/Financial District (Neighborhood)
Manhattan NY
~3.79 miles from Jersey City city center
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Wall Street is located in lower Manhattan island, NYC, New York. It runs east from Broadway downhill to South Street on the East River, through the historical center of the Financial District. Several major U.S. stock and other exchanges are headquartered on Wall Street and in the Financial District, including the NYSE, NASDAQ, AMEX, NYMEX, and NYBOT.
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#30 of 30 Things To Do in Jersey City
New York City Hall
Manhattan NY
~3.80 miles from Jersey City city center
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