At the start of the 2025–2026 school year, James J. Braddock Park in Hudson County was free of the preschool trailers that had occupied it since 2001. For 24 years, North Bergen placed its prekindergarten program in those units, initially as a temporary response to overcrowding.

Town leaders defended the setup as necessary, pointing to residential growth and the lack of available classrooms in district buildings. Environmental advocates, however, argued that the trailers encroached on public recreation space and violated New Jersey’s Green Acres law, which restricts the use of protected parkland.

North Bergen’s Push for a Permanent Facility

Discussions about a permanent structure in Braddock Park continued for years. As recently as April 2024, Mayor Nick Sacco, who also serves as a state senator and once held the role of assistant superintendent of schools, announced a new full-day pre-K program. He confirmed that while the trailers would be retired, the township planned to continue seeking approval from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) for a modular school building on the site.

The proposal required a diversion, a process that would lift Green Acres protections from a section of the park. North Bergen pledged to give up other open space equaling five times the size of the parkland used for the preschool. Critics argued the trade was flawed, since replacement properties offered in such cases were usually of lower quality and provided less recreational value. Opponents also warned that a DEP exemption could create a precedent for other municipalities to repurpose protected land for schools, housing, or emergency services.

Local Activists Mobilize Opposition

Community pushback grew steadily over the years. Bob Walden, a retired evidence photographer who moved to North Bergen in 2012, noticed township signs about plans for a permanent school. After investigating, he found the trailers were already serving as classrooms in violation of Green Acres rules.

Walden and Mark Bloomberg of West New York became two of the most outspoken critics. They challenged what they called false claims from the township about safety, enrollment numbers, and the availability of alternative sites. The pair organized a broad campaign, rallying thousands of current and former New Jersey residents to sign petitions, submit comments, attend hearings, and pressure officials.

Their movement gained support from a coalition that included NJ Conservation Foundation, NJ Appleseed, NJ League of Women Voters, Friends of Liberty State Park, NY–NJ Baykeeper, Hackensack Riverkeeper, Hudson County Sierra Club, North Bergen Earth Talks, the Eastern Environmental Law Center, and Friends of Braddock Park.

Weaknesses in the Green Acres Program

The Braddock Park dispute brought attention to how municipalities have tested the limits of the Green Acres program, which covers more than 200 parks in Hudson County, including 58 in Jersey City. Once a site receives Green Acres funding, the land is intended strictly for recreation or conservation.

Nonetheless, several examples illustrate how parkland has been diverted. In the 1980s, Ridgewood constructed affordable housing on a Green Acres-protected playground, an issue still being resolved. North Bergen built an emergency medical services facility on protected land three decades ago. More recently, Woodbridge Township sought to divert more than seven acres of parkland for a school project.

According to Walden and Bloomberg, North Bergen repeatedly filed diversion applications for Braddock Park but never completed them. They said the DEP allowed years of delays by granting extensions, wasting “hundreds, if not thousands, of hours” of taxpayer-funded agency time. They have called for stronger safeguards, including enforceable penalties and strict timeframes, to prevent abuses of the system. They said that the public has backed Green Acres protections for more than 65 years and that the program should be reinforced, not weakened.