Apparently Hoboken had 2 themes going on in the naming of some of the newer streets by the waterfront. In addition to the extension of Frank Sinatra Drive to Frank Sinatra Drive North and Maxwell Lane, (the epoymonously named street in the Maxwell complex), there is also Shipyard Lane/Bernard McFeely; Constitution Court/Louis DePascale and Independence Court/Walter Barry.
Since there is very little on the internet about these 3 individuals, to provide you with some of the background that goes along with these names, I had to contact my local historic expert, ie. my husband, who gave me a little history that you might find interesting.
Walter Barry is the father of Joseph Barry and grandfather of Michael and David Barry, a family of developers that have been instrumental in polishing the diamond in the rough city of Hoboken into the premier community that it has become today.
When Walter and Joe Barry came to Hoboken in the early 1970's, on a mandate to rehabilitate Hoboken's housing stock through a federally funded program called the Model Cities Act, they literally bought thousands of housing units through out the city with mortgage guarantees by the federal government and rent subsidies also guaranteed by the federal government. They were to embark upon a transformation of a run down debilatated city into a solid community with decent affordable housing for thousands of low income tenants. Basically, they bought rows of houses through out the city and converted them from 4 and 5 story walk-ups to integrated buildings with central hallways, elevators and central heating. This rehabilitation of the existing housing stock instead of the creation of monstrous low cost mid-rises built on demolished housing allowed a community to grow into a place with people who cared about how they lived. Over the course of the next decade, Hoboken began to attract more and more upscale residents due in a large part to the simultaneous construction of the World Trade Center. The World Trade Center which was finally finished during the 70's was purposely built on the West side of lower Manhattan to help in the increased development in Hoboken and Jersey City along with the upgrading of the Path Train system. At the time, Govenor Rockefeller who proposed building the tallest building in the world at the tip of Manhattan had wanted it to be on the East side of Manhattan but the Govenor of New Jersey who had a veto on the project insisted that the Trade Center be built on the West side of NYC along with the Path Trains so that New Jersey could also benefit from the economic growth that was to come by the revitalization of Manhattan's Southern tip. It was during the 1980's that the building momentum began to increase at an accelerated pace somewhat similar to the recent frenzy in building and price increases that we recently witnessed in Hoboken and Jersey City. During this time, in the early 80's leading up to 1987, Hoboken was swarming with newly minted millionaire developers who were literally changing Hoboken inside out by the conversion of factories, churches and warehouses into residential condominiums. Curiously for many during this time the Barry family did not make any major purchases and stayed out of the buying frenzy. And so, in 1987, when the real estate market collapsed thru out the region due to President Reagans's tax reform act of 1986, the Barry's were in a position to buy up major properties along the Hudson River at vastly discounted rates due to the bankrupcy and foreclosure that was occurring. In fact, it was their purchase of the Bethleham Steel Shipyards at a bankrupcy/foreclosure sale that allowed the Barry family to maintain control of the Northern waterfront. To their credit, the Barry's always cared about the city of Hoboken and the people living here. They even rehabilitated the original machine shop for the shiyards which now stretches from 12th to 14th Street between Hudson Street and Shipyard Lane. They opened up the vistas that allowed the opening of 11th & 12th Street to see the waterfront and dedicated a part of the property to the wonderful Hoboken Museum. (at this point my husband could have gone on for another hour but I had to cut him short).
Bernard McFeely and Luis DePascale are both former Hoboken Mayors but I think we will save this part of Hoboken history for another time.....