Construction on first major phase of Freshkills Park to begin soon

2017-08-17T14:18:00-04:00

"The effort to turn Fresh Kills Landfill into a verdant and vibrant destination for wildlife and outdoor recreation received a huge boost on Monday as the city awarded a $22.9 million contract for the construction of the first major section of Freshkills Park."

Lomma Construction Corp. will lead works on the first 21 acres of the North Park. The area will be kept largely natural with simple additions including a seven-acre seed farm, an observation tower for birdwatching, a picnic lawn, composting restrooms, a waterfront overlook deck, a bicycle repair station, a forested plateau, bike/pedestrian pathways, and limited parking for visitors. James Corner Field Operations is responsible for the master plan of the park.

Transforming a garbage heap into a public park

2015-07-02T17:37:00-04:00

Since the capping and closure of Fresh Kills’ five mounds, this 2,200-acre expanse of wetlands, marshlands, dry lowlands, forests, and grasslands has evolved into an unusual combination of natural and engineered beauty.

Originally a patch of creeks and marshland on the western shore of Staten Island, the area now known as Fresh Kills became a major landfill for New York City in 1948, once Robert Moses bought the land for housing development. His plan was to solidify the marshland with waste for a few years, and then build. But construction never happened, and for the remainder of the 20th century, the area served as a 2,200-acre garbage heap (by comparison, Central Park covers 843 acres). People hated it, and in 2001 managed to get the city to close it down, and begin the process of transforming it back into its (more or less) former ecological state, to be used as a public park known as Freshkills.

Learn more about Freshkills' storied past:

Archinect - News

Construction on first major phase of Freshkills Park to begin soon

Transforming a garbage heap into a public park