Ross Dock Picnic Area

Ross Dock Picnic Area in Fort Lee, New Jersey, sits inside Palisades Interstate Park, directly below the cliffs of the New Jersey Palisades and close to the George Washington Bridge. The area has wide views across the Hudson River towards Manhattan, but it also has enough open space to work as a park, fairground or gathering place on screen. Its position under the Palisades gives it a distinctive look, with the river, bridge, cliffs and New York skyline all close by without placing the scene directly inside Manhattan.

Ross Dock Picnic Area is best known from Big (1988), where it is used for the travelling carnival where Josh Baskin makes his wish to be grown up. The location also appears in The Juror (1996) and World Trade Center (2006), in very different contexts. In all three films, the picnic area works as an open public space, but the mood changes completely: childhood magic and unease in Big (1988), danger and intimidation in The Juror (1996), and recovery and gratitude in World Trade Center (2006).

In Big (1988), Ross Dock Picnic Area is where the travelling fairground is set up and Josh first encounters the Zoltar machine. After being embarrassed on a ride because he is too small, Josh finds Zoltar and wishes to be big, setting the entire story in motion. When he returns the next day as an adult, the carnival has disappeared, leaving only the empty riverside location behind. The George Washington Bridge can be seen nearby, helping place the scene in the New Jersey side of the New York area.

In The Juror (1996), Ross Dock Picnic Area / Palisades Interstate Park is used for the riverside confrontation between The Teacher, played by Alec Baldwin, and the gangsters who try to eliminate him after Annie Laird has turned his own plans against him. The scene takes place by the Hudson River, with the George Washington Bridge clearly visible in the background throughout the sequence. What begins as a planned execution turns into a violent shootout, as The Teacher anticipates the trap and kills the men sent after him. The open riverside setting, the cliffs of the Palisades and the massive bridge behind the action give the scene a bleak and exposed feeling, far removed from the courtroom and New York interiors that dominate much of the film.

In “World Trade Center” (2006), Ross Dock Picnic Area is used for the thank-you barbecue scene. The film, directed by Oliver Stone, tells the story of Port Authority police officers trapped in the rubble after the September 11 attacks, and the picnic area is used in a calmer, reflective moment after the rescue. The same open riverside setting that feels mysterious and magical in “Big” (1988) becomes a place of recovery, gratitude and community in “World Trade Center” (2006).

Big (1988)

The Juror (1996)

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