Jersey City, New Jersey influenced the development of the sections of the city and its various neighborhoods. The city is divided into six wards. Downtown Jersey City is the area from the Hudson River westward to the Newark Bay Extension of the New Jersey Turnpike (Interstate 78) and the New Jersey Palisades; it is also bounded by Hoboken to the north and Liberty State Park to the south. Historic Downtown is an area of mostly low-rise buildings to the west of the waterfront that is highly desirable due to its proximity to local amenities and Manhattan. It includes the neighborhoods of Van Vorst Park
New Jersey v. New York channel. This agreement was fashioned in order to allow New Jersey to build docks on the riverfront, while allowing New York to control islands that it already considered integral parts of its territory. This led to places such as Ellis Island located on the New Jersey side of the river, but belonging to New York. Between the 1890s and 1934, Ellis Island was expanded through land reclamation and soon became a major center for immigrants coming from Europe to the New World. This land was added by the federal government and considered part of New York for decades before New