Christie Asked to Support LG’s Englewood Cliffs Project

Bergen County Executive Kathleen Donovan and Englewood Cliffs Mayor Joseph Parisi, Jr. have asked Gov. Chris Christie to support LG Electronics’ plan to build a 143-foot North American corporate headquarters in Englewood Cliffs.

In a letter to Christie released by Donovan’s office, the two officials pointed to the project’s impact on the regional economy. The letter came in response to another letter from Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. and Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer urging Christie to block LG’s plan, which they said would tarnish views of the Palisades.

“First let us underline that all of us New Jerseyans who support the LG project love the Palisades and believe that they are one of the natural assets that make our State so wonderful,” Donovan and Parisi wrote to Christie. “But the letter to you from the other side of the Hudson was yet another example of New Yorkers trying to reduce the whole issue down to just one thing - the view of the Palisades from one small area on the New York side of the river.”

Donovan and Parisi said the LG building would be “barely visible” over the Palisades treeline and cited “certain distorted pictures you may have seen.”

“We thought it was time you heard from your own people,” the letter said. “Our neighbors in New York have consistently refused to acknowledge any argument but their own and they have misrepresented the project to overcome the weakness of their arguments.”

The letter urged Christie to consider the project’s impact on the economy. Company officials have said the $300 million project will create jobs and be a boost the region's economy.

"New Jersey needs jobs. Bergen County needs jobs. Englewood Cliffs needs job and we need a strong local tax base,” Donovan and Parisi wrote.

In another letter to Christie, LG Electronics CEO Wayne Park said the project would bring 1,600 jobs to Englewood Cliffs by 2020 and add $1.6 million to the borough’s tax base. Park offered to meet with Christie to further discuss the project. The governor’s office did not respond to messages seeking comment.

Supporters of the LG project have framed the debate as one fueled by wealthy New Yorkers and cultural organizations. Both sides have issued competing renderings depicting how they say the LG building will appear over the treeline.

The New York Daily News and New York Times have panned the project, with the Daily News likening LG’s design to a giant middle finger.

In an editorial, the New York Times wrote the planned building would "threaten the natural beauty of the Palisades Interstate Park System."

"It's a good line within New Jersey circles to say, oh, this is a New York problem, but it's not accurate,” Edward Goodell, director of the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference, told NJ.com. Goodell’s group is involved with litigation over the project.

Goodell has said the project could be accomplished at a lower height. LG officials, however, have said redoing the design would be costly and Park’s letter noted the company had received all required approvals.

Court-ordered mediation in a lawsuit filed by three Englewood Cliffs residents and preservationists failed to reach a compromise last month, setting the stage for a court battle. Four former New Jersey governors have also asked LG to lower the building’s height.

Another plantiff, Haley Carlock, an attorney for Scenic Hudson, pointed to a "50/50 split" in interest from both sides of the Hudson, according to the NJ.com report.

“It’s not just about New York. That’s what they would like it to be. It’s got a nice ring to it, but it’s not,” Goodell told NorthJersey.com.