JERSEY CITY &151 Mayor knows that a decade ago, the idea of a golf tournament here &151 one featuring Tiger Woods and a national
television audience, no less &151 would have been preposterous. Jersey City was an old industrial town, depressed and crime-ridden. When golfers were looking for one of New Jersey’s many world-class courses, they never stopped here. “You’d have been greeted with guffaws,” Healy said. But since 2006, the city has been home to the , with its scenic views of Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty. This week, the course will host the Barclays, the first of four events in the FedEx Cup playoffs, and the eyes of the golf world will turn to Jersey City. Healy hopes it will give the city’s urban redevelopment a boost. According to Peter Mele, the executive director of the Barclays, the economic impact of the tournament should be $30 million to $40 million, primarily through hotels, restaurants and taxes &151 though it is difficult to be certain because Jersey City has never hosted the event. In addition, Mele said that under the P.G.A.’s policy of donating the net proceeds of tournaments to charity, the Barclays hopes to leave more than $1 million behind. “With the current state of the economy and charity dollars drying up, that contribution becomes especially important,” Mele said. Jersey City is New Jersey’s second largest city, but its growth has not always been smooth.
In recent years, however, under a policy of urban renewal, Jersey City has adopted a strategy similar to that of other cities in Hudson County. Like Hoboken, it has marketed itself as a convenient home for Wall Street employees and others who work in Lower Manhattan, full of luxury waterfront condominiums and spectacular views of the Manhattan skyline.