The Palisades

Year Listed: 2014
Location: Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey
Threat: Development

Significance

The Palisades has been cherished by the nation and residents of New York and New Jersey for generations.
The historic landscape not only provides stellar views but also tells a culturally significant Native American story, as multiple tribes, including the Sanhikan, Hackensack, Raritan, and Tappan nations used the cliffs as shelter from adverse weather for centuries. When new quarries and other development atop the cliffs threatened to degrade the landscape in the late 19th century, the Palisades became the focus of some of the country’s earliest conservation and protection efforts.

LG Electronics has proposed building an eight story, 143 foot high office tower next to the Palisades that would spoil the scenic view of the New Jersey cliffs along the Hudson River. Litigation and state legislation in New Jersey to protect the Palisades arose after the town of Englewood Cliffs, N.J., granted a variance to LG to build the office tower that would visually mar the historic Palisades landscape. If construction of the LG tower goes forward, it would represent the first breach of the viewshed in the 100-year history of protecting the Palisades north of the George Washington Bridge.