Jersey City, a beacon to more than 10 million immigrants who landed on nearby Ellis Island in the great migrations of the 1800s and early 1900s, is still the Golden Door to opportunity on the West Bank of the Hudson River. It is becoming Wall Street West and Silicon Valley East, as scores of Wall Street firms move their facilities from Manhattan to New Jersey and as the new communications firms and Internet providers flock to take advantage of the city's fiber optic cable network.

Jersey City, a beacon to more than 10 million immigrants who landed on nearby Ellis Island in the great migrations of the 1800s and early 1900s, is still the Golden Door to opportunity on the West Bank of the Hudson River. It is becoming Wall Street West and Silicon Valley East, as scores of Wall Street firms move their facilities from Manhattan to New Jersey and as the new communications firms and Internet providers flock to take advantage of the city's fiber optic cable network.

Jersey City has accounted for 91 percent of the job growth among the state's top six cities in the 1992-94 period. Job attraction has grown even more in recent years. Last year, there was not one hotel in Jersey City. Now, a 17-room Club Hotel & Suites by Doubletree is open, a 189-room Courtyard by Marriott just broke ground, a 215-room Candlewood Business Suite Hotel is due this summer, and planned are a 300-room Harborside Hotel by Mack-Cali, a 250-room Colgate Hotel by Hartz at 50 Hudson Street, a Liberty Harbor North Hotel and, possibly, another Marriott.

The three tallest buildings in New Jersey are located in Jersey City and plans for three or four more of even greater height (to 59 stories), are being advanced. (Please see related story on developers.) The 1.2-million square-foot Newport Centre Shopping Mall is thriving and reports are that a fourth anchor will soon be announced. New ferry service carries 30,000 people back and forth between New York and Jersey City. Marinas, restaurants, health clubs and residential units vie for position amidst the office skyscrapers. People want to live and work here.

Signs of optimism abound. The idea that one of the stock exchanges m Manhattan may move to Jersey is still alive. The courts have ruled that a major portion of Ellis Island belongs to New Jersey Liberty State Park is the most visited park in the state. The Yankees are still being courted to relocate to Jersey City, while plans are on the table for a basketball and hockey arena at Liberty State Park. A stadium for the Yankees or another franchise could be built on Jersey City-owned land a the Kearny border, adjacent to the Allied Junction complex. A new Turnpike exit is to be created at the 150-acre site.

Over the next two years, more than $1 billion in private sector investment is expected to surge into Jersey City in addition, the waterfront area is experiencing a phenomenal construction boom, fueled by low interest rates, a booming market and the New York FIRE (finance, insurance and real estate) industries realizing what a bargain can be had in Jersey City. Also fueling development of the Gold Coast, as its waterfront is now called, are: development of a massive ferry system between New York and New Jersey by NY Waterway, operated by the Imperatore family; building of new roadways; creation of a light-rail system from Bayonne to Hoboken, with several key stops in Jersey City; and development of Liberty State Park, Liberty Science Center and other magnets.

Thousands of new dwelling units have been created and continue to be brought to market in skyscrapers and mid-rise buildings from The Applied Company's Port Liberte in the south to The Lefrak Organization's Newport in the north. More than 1,000 residential units were built in the past 18 months and another 1,000 are in the pipeline. Jersey City's population in 1990 was 228,517 and in 1996 was estimated to be 229,039. Meanwhile, Newark lost 6,711 residents from its 1990 census figure of 275,221 to 268,510 in 1996. When the 2000 census is taken, most demographers say Jersey City will be the state's most populous.

The Applied Company, headed by Joe any and his two sons, has started construction on 100 luxury condominium units in the newest phase of Port Liberte on the waterfront overlooking the Statue of Liberty. There will be 34 one-family townhouses, two four-story apartment buildings and one three-story building. The project will include a waterfront walkway recreation area and a nine-hole golf course. Further north on the waterfront is Avalon Cove, being developed by Avalon Properties. It is now finishing a 25-story rental tower next to its low-rise units. Monthly rents range from $1,700 to $4,800 for the one-bedroom to four-bedroom penthouses. Continuing north to Newport, there are two new apartment towers being created by The Lefrak Organization.

Garden State Development Inc. of Jersey City and the Seltzer Group of Manhattan plan to break ground on a two-tower $100-million complex on Washington Avenue, just north of harborside. The 283-unit Portofino is under construction, while work will begin later on the 278-unit Marbella.

While most of the new development is along the highly-visible six-mile-long waterfront, there are other special improvement districts, Journal Square and McGinley Square among them, which are also undergoing a rebirth.

Bret Schundler, the first Republican mayor of Jersey City in 70 years, who has won reelection and is a potential candidate for governor in 2001, is the city's chief champion and largely responsible for the metamorphosis of the urban center into today dynamic metropolis. On a recent tour of the hard-hat construction sites along the Hudson River, Schundler explained why the city has been able to attract such illustrious names as Merrill Lynch, Bankers Trust, Bank of Tokyo, Bierbaum Martin, Lehman Brothers, Fleet Bank, the Pershing Division of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, NTT Data Communications, PNC Bank, Sherwood Group, U.S. Trust, Lord Abbett and The Daily News.

"Our convenient location, extensive transportation system and prosperous economy make Jersey City an excellent place to live, work and do business," says Shundler. "Businesses located in Jersey City pay less than half the taxes and utilities that their competitors pay in New York and other major cities in the metropolitan area. We have generous incentive programs."

Schundler and Stuart (Stu) Z. Koperweis, president of the Jersey City Economic Development Corporation, have a compelling argument why firms should relocate to their city. Among them:

* Easy access to major road, rail, water and air transportation;

* Less than a dozen minutes to Manhattan via PATH;

* Luxury and market-priced housing;

* A strong cultural and artistic community;

* Estimated 30 percent savings on energy costs and 35 percent lower operating costs versus Manhattan:

* Employee tax credits for each Jersey City resident hired;

* Available loan programs from $5,000 to $500,000;

* Multiple Urban Enterprise Zones (UEZ) with state sales tax of only 3 percent, rather than 6 percent;

* No payroll tax;

* No city income tax;

* No corporate tax;

* No personal property tax; and

* No tax on commercial rent.

Schundler points out that in the last five years, virtually every facet of the city's fiscal, economic and social character has improved. "The $700-million budget has grown by only 1 percent a year since 1 assumed office in November of 1992," he enthuses. "Our collection rate is up and much of the new construction is done on an abatement process called PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes), which brings in revenues." Violent crime is down by 23 percent since 1992 and total employment is up by 20 percent over the past three years.

Koperweis says the Urban Enterprise Zone has truly paid off for the entire city. "We've coined the phrase, 'Holistic Urban Building.' It means we are using the benefits of the zone and spreading them out to all parts of the city. We take the money and reinvest it into different areas." The UEZ exempts firms from a sales tax on business-related purchases.

Jersey City is saving $3.5 million per year on its water system and anticipates saving $17.5 million by the 2001. In 1996, the city entered into a public-private partnership with United Water Resources, Harrington Park, to operate its 80-million gallon-per-day water system. The savings comes from selling un-needed water to neighboring municipalities, enhancing bill collection and cutting the workforce by 40 percent while allowing workers to move to other city jobs.

Schundler has initiated a district called WALDO (the artists' Work and Live District Overlay), where painters, sculptors and other visual artists can be assured the lower rentals of lofts will not be increased and drive them out, as has happened in SoHo and other locales in New York City. Already over a dozen galleries display this fine art year around. A new restaurant row is emerging on Newark Avenue.

Schundler sees Liberty State Park and its environs as the next major development area to put Jersey City on the map - particularly for travel agents and visitors. The Park is already home to the $68-million 170,000 square-foot Liberty Science Center, which attracts .5 million visitors a year. Schundler is promoting a plan to develop a water park, a botanical garden, golf course, horse stables for horseback riding, a second museum (perhaps one devoted to transportation), more hotels, a hockey/basketball/concert arena with 10,000 to 18,000 seats and other venues.

"I would like to see the Battleship New Jersey here at Liberty State Park," he says. "It really belongs here. It won't work in Bayonne. And we have the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. I'd like to see a world class conference center on Ellis Island. Buildings on the island can be refurbished for 1,000 people and overnight accommodations for 350 people. I see tour buses and a tram taking people around Liberty State Park to the New York Central Railroad Depot, Liberty Science Center, the museum, the arena, golf course, waterpark and other facilities. It can connect with the light rail. People visiting New York City can extend their visit by coming here. Rail connections can take them to working farms in western New Jersey for a day."

Schundler says there are four areas of the city under major development, the largest of which is the waterfront from Colgate Center to Hoboken. "The exciting thing is that the development is moving westward to Grove Street and the WALDO," he says. The other three are Liberty State Park and its surrounding area, Port Jersey and the northwest side near where he hopes to attract the Yankees or someone with a sports franchise.

The city boasts three colleges - Saint Peter College, New Jersey City University, and Hudson County Community College.

Saint Peter's, the Jesuit College of New Jersey, opened in 1872, offers 34 major programs leading to a bachelor's degree and nine majors leading to an associate degree. It also offers masters' degrees. It has 3,698 students (including its Englewood Cliffs campus and 487 graduate students), 85 percent of whom are from New Jersey Currently, the college is involved in three major developments; a new $10-million dorm for 140 students; a $1.8-million pedestrian bridge over Kennedy Boulevard, to tie the campus on the west side to the thrust eastward; and the McGinley Square Project. College President James N. Loughran, S.J., says the college hopes to build four new dormitories in the hope of enrolling 2,500 students in the day session, half of whom would live on campus.

A decade of double-digit enrollment growth (almost 24 percent from 1990) and increasing demand for students residences has expedited the college's expansion plans. In moving eastward, the college is working with the McGinley Square Partnership and the city to revitalize the neighborhood.

Mayor Schundler has been supportive of the inner-core revitalization effort around McGinley Square and Koperweis serves on the study's steering committee. Schundler appointed Tom Gallagher, director of the Jersey City Housing, Economic Development Commerce Department, as the city's program director for the projects in the program. The plan calls for a new college parking deck and shops, city acquisition of the National Guard Arm on Montgomery

Street, expansion of McGinley Square Park and a streetscape and lighting project. St. Peter's and PSE&G underwrote the six-month study. The college expects to get started this year on the $8.6-million parking deck with 15,000 square feet of commercial space, including a college bookstore.

New Jersey City State University (formerly Jersey City State College) has served Jersey City and New Jersey for almost 70 years and has 7,500 undergraduates and 1,300 graduate students. It offers 25 baccalaureate and 24 graduate programs. The 43-acre campus has been undergoing some major building improvements in a $13-million program, including a multi-million-dollar renovation of the Irwin Library. It is all part of a $60-million, 10-year master plan.

Hudson Community College is a two-year institution offering one-year certificate and two-year associate's degree programs at an affordable cost. It is at 900 Bergen Avenue and will be expanding into a new facility off Journal Square if plans come to fruition.

Jersey City residents have access to a variety of health care facilities. The Grand Jersey project is a 420-bed medical facility on a 13-acre waterfront location. The $200-million complex, being operated by the Jersey City Medical Center, is the second-largest public facility ever built in New Jersey. The Greenville Hospital and Jersey City Medical Center are part of the new Liberty Health Care System. The former Margaret Hague Medical Center and JCMC will be converted to residential complex or office. Christ Hospital has 402 beds and a staff of 350 physicians. The Franciscan Health System of New Jersey includes St. Mary Hospital in Hoboken and St. Francis Hospital in Jersey City. St. Mary's, founded in 1863, has 328 beds. St. Francis, founded in 1864, is a 243-bed acute care hospital with an adjacent School of Nursing and Day Care Center.

Jersey City is an incredible city. It's an old city, settled by Michael Paulusen in 1633, almost a quarter century after Henrik (Henry) Hudson first laid eyes on the land in 1609. Since its incorporation in 188, it has had some good and hard times. Now, it is in a renaissance that will bring it to unparalleled heights in the new millennium.