Edited by Will Ellis, with videography by Will Ellis and Arbuckle Industries.
“Freshkills Park is one of the largest most ambitious public works projects in the city’s history, and a symbol of renewal and environmental restoration.The Freshkills Park Alliance is working with New York City Department of Parks and Recreation and the Department of Sanitation to bring the public into this place before the entire 2,200 acres of the park are open.” Learn more about the Freshkills Park Alliance.
Highlight reel shot and edited by Will Ellis: willellisphoto.com.
Sneak ‘Peak’ was a one-day festival celebrating Staten Island’s landfill-to-park masterpiece, Freshkills Park, an icon for the 21st century. On September 28, 3,000 people came to see the park in its current glory, learn about its future and experience land transformation and renewal.
After East Mound capping completed in 2011, West Mound was the last remaining landfill section to be capped. At 545 acres, West Mound is the site’s largest, with the West Shore Expressway to the east and the Arthur Kill to the west. It’s bordered by the LFG Purification Plant, Leachate Treatment Plant, and SI District 3 Garage and Borough Repair Shop. An earthwork monument is envisioned atop the mound in remembrance of the September 11 recovery effort that occurred in this location.
Freshkills Park entered into a sister park partnership with Ariel Sharon Park in Tel Aviv, a similar landfill to park conversion in a large city.
It was announced that Freshkills Park will host New York City’s largest solar array, large enough to power more than 2,000 homes.
On June 6, the Main Creek Wetland Restoration pilot project was completed. This project stabilized the shoreline, created new salt marsh habitat, and removed invasive species.
With the first hiking program at Freshkills Park, hiking becomes a regular part of the programs on site.
April: Owl Hollow Fields opened, with four soccer fields (two of which are lighted), and a landscaped path. The LEED certified comfort station remains to be built.
On October 29, Super storm Sandy hit Staten Island. The wetlands and landfill mounds of Freshkills acted as a buffer for the neighboring communities and Freshkills was used as a temporary debris transfer station.
Schmul Park, the first complete park project, reopened in the Travis Neighborhood. The project included renovating the playground with colorful shaped surfaces to echo the topography of the park, new handball and basketball courts, creating what will become a tree-lined entrance to North Park, and building a comfort station with water and energy saving measures.