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.
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2012: Goatscaping
In June and July, a herd of goats helped out in the Main Creek Wetland Restoration by eating phragmites, an invasive reed. The pilot restoration project’s objective was to remove phragmites, increase ecosystem habitats via native species plantings, stabilize the shoreline to combat sea level rise, and improve water quality.
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2012: Visitor Center
February: The new Freshkills Park Visitor Center opened in a refurbished construction trailer on-site. The Visitor Center was designed by New York-based design firm, Project Projects, and features a green roof, bright graphics, and creative displays detailing the past, present, and future of Freshkills Park.
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2011: Kayaking
Freshkills Park teamed with Kayak Staten Island to hold the first public kayak event on site.
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2011: 10-Year Anniversary
The New York City Departments of Sanitation and Parks & Recreation celebrated the 10th Anniversary of the last barge of waste to Fresh Kills Landfill by welcoming a barge loaded with young trees to the site.
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2010: First Sneak Peak
The first large-scale, public event was held at the Freshkills Park site in October 2010. Sneak ‘Peak’ was a one-day festival celebrating Staten Island’s landfill-to-park project as an icon for the 21st century. The event drew approximately 1,800 visitors.
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2009: Freshkills Park East Park Roads SEIS
The New York City Department of Parks & Recreation prepared a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) that analyzed the construction of park roads through East Park, examining the potential impacts in greater detail than previously examined in the GEIS and also examining park road phasing, impacts on Landfill Section 6/7 and the associated landfill infrastructure, and further examining road options and alternatives. This Statement of Findings documents that environmental review process and conclusions presented in both the GEIS and SEIS.
Download the Freshkills Park GEIS and SEIS Statement of Findings, October 2009
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2006: Freshkills Park Administrator
The Freshkills Park Administrator, Eloise Hirsh, was chosen by the Department of Parks & Recreation and began work overseeing park development. Read the Daily Plant article.
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2006: Video: “It’s My Park: Freshkills – Staten Island”
Video produced by Adrian Sas, 2010.
In 2006, the Department of Parks & Recreation began offering guided bus tours of the future park. The tours were organized by a Freshkills Park staff member and led by Urban Park Rangers.
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2004: Public Review
Between Fall 2004 and Spring 2006, a series of meetings and workshops were conducted where New Yorkers were able to communicate their vision for the future of Fresh Kills. A number of guiding principles were the result of the process and were used to develop the Draft Master Plan. Learn more about the public review process.