Aerial image of Fort Lee, New Jersey looking east to Hudson River and Upper Manhattan
Originally published on Forbes.com Jan 10th, 2014
Governor Christie’s emotional apology for the role of his close aides in Bridge-gate, a politically motivated massive traffic jam, has pushed the town of Fort Lee, New Jersey into national prominence. As I am helping to gear up a new tax practice, I have not had a lot of time to study the coverage. I got to see some of Governor Christie’s apology because the client I am visiting has a TV in the men’s room. It is strategically located for convenient viewing in a standing position.
What concerns me is that if Governor Christie continues as a Republican front-runner, the town of Fort Lee will be mainly remembered as the site of a major traffic jam that was either a speed bump on Christie’s drive to the presidency or a major blow to his credibility that doomed him. This troubles me, because Fort Lee and the area nearby is a historic place and other things than a traffic jam interfering with a presidential drive should pop into your head when you hear it mentioned.
Where The Cliff Dwellers Look Down On Manhattan
You have probably seen photographs of the iconic New York City skyline. You have probably not reflected that all those pictures must have been taken from somewhere. That somewhere is across the roughly mile-wide Hudson River, which runs close to north/south. Two major entry points to Manhattan are the Lincoln Tunnel around midtown and the George Washington Bridge which is pretty far north. West from the river the ground rises sharply to over 200 feet above sea level and quickly goes back down to meadows some of which are slightly below sea level.
The high ground is occupied by tightly packed towns that can seem more like urban neighborhoods – Weekhawken, Union City, West New York, North Bergen in very urban Hudson County – Fairview, Cliffside Park, and Fort Lee in Bergen County, which can become quite bucolic as you go further north or West. Alpine, NJ (07620) less than 10 miles north of Fort Lee was reported by Forbes to be the most expensive zip code in the country. I’m not going to give you a history of Fort Lee, just a couple of historic highlights so that you will have an association other than Bridge-gate.
There Really Was A Fort There
The mouth of the Hudson River was of great strategic importance during the American Revolution. George Washington while fighting a series of losing battles on the New York side of the river in the summer of 1776 ordered the erection of fortifications from which cannons could fire on British ships trying to use the river.
The 33 acre Fort Lee Historic Park maintained by the Palisades Interstate Park Commission preserves some of that history. The Park is a long stone’s throw or short cannon shot from the George Washington Bridge. It commemorates some dark days for American arms, which Thomas Paine called the “times that try men’s souls”. After Fort Washington on the other side of the river fell, Fort Lee had to be quickly abandoned in November of 1776. Check out this re-enactment for a feel of the terrain.
What They Don’t Even Know About At The Fort Lee Historical Society
We are currently commemorating the sesquicentennial of the American Civil War (or War Between The States – War of Northern Aggression – Late Unpleasantness, depending on your point of view). One of the several grievances that triggered the secession that triggered the war was stated in the South Carolina Declaration of Immediate Causes. The complaint was that northern states
have denounced as sinful the institution of slavery; they have permitted open establishment among them of societies, whose avowed object is to disturb the peace and to eloign the property of the citizens of other States. They have encouraged and assisted thousands of our slaves to leave their homes; and those who remain, have been incited by emissaries, books and pictures to servile insurrection.
The book that really inflamed Northern anti-slavery consciousness was Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe. Stowe based her work on the non-fiction American Slavery As It Is. That work was assembled from primary sources including newspapers from across the South, by Theodore Weld, his wife Angelina Grimke, and her sister Sarah Grimke. They were living in Fort Lee, NJ at the time. Here is a simulated interview with Angelina Grimke.
There should be a monument to them. I can think of no better way for Governor Christie to make amends to the town than an erection of a monument to its role in the greatest human rights struggle in the country’s history. Maybe he could get his party back in touch with the historic role that it played in the struggle.
A Lost Cultural Icon
There is little in the way of monument to mark it, but the storied Palisades Amusement Park, sometime home of the world’s largest salt water swimming pool straddled the border of Fort Lee and Cliffside Park. I mourn that loss every time I am in the area. There is a society dedicated to preserving the Park’s heritage. Here is a little taste of what it was like a decade before its sad demise to the high-rise apartment trend.
Don’t Think So Much About The Traffic Jam
I’m sure there are many people with a deeper knowledge of Fort Lee history who can supplement this. I hope they show up in the comments. When I hear Fort Lee, my first thought is the Theodore Weld and the Grimke sisters and I would like to encourage that view, but the real George Washington and Palisades Amusement Park are also good things to reflect on.
You can follow me on twitter @peterreillycpa.
Afternote
In my first version, I described the GW Bridge as being at the very northern tip of Manhattan. As one of my kind commenters pointed out there is still a good bit of Manhattan north of the bridge.