Freshkills Park Blog
A look back on Fall 2020
It was yet another busy Fall at Freshkills Park this year. While we were unable to host our annual Discovery Day, we were excited to welcome back small groups for outdoor programming while taking safety precautions. Participants experienced the landfill-to-park transformation through nature walks, birding, photography tours, and kayaking.
...MORERethinking the cost of Trash
It is no secret that NYC agencies, like the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation and the NYC Department of Sanitation (DSNY) have suffered significant budget cuts as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, parks and open spaces are experiencing larger crowds because people need to get out of their apartments and parks are a safe place to social distance.
...MOREInterview with Artist partner Jade Doskow
Since its inception, the Freshkills Park team has fostered partnerships with artists from a variety of disciplines in an effort to document this preliminary phase of park development through creative expression. Over time, a number of works have emerged, ranging from ink studies produced within the confines of an old shipping container to bound notebooks created from the park’s ubiquitous invasive Phragmites plant.
...MOREGo Green this Sustain-a-ween!
Halloween is on a Saturday this year, which means plenty of time for various Halloween activities. This year make it a Sustain-a-ween! Halloween decorations and treats are fun, but what happens to everything afterwards? Plastic Halloween decorations and candy wrappers aren’t recyclable and are likely to end up in a landfill.
...MORESuperstorms and Wetlands
As we approach the 8th anniversary of Superstorm Sandy, it is time to remember and consider the impact the superstorm had on Staten Island and the rest of the city. NYC lost 43 people to Superstorm Sandy and half of those were Staten Islanders.
...MOREOpen House Freshkills Park
Freshkills Park is once again participating in Open House New York, which is going virtual for 2020. Whether this is your first visit or you’ve been here before, welcome to Staten Island and to Freshkills Park. Start with a look around, and keep an eye out for the Manhattan skyline in the distance.
...MOREScience at Freshkills Park: Water Monitoring
Rare Sedge Wrens Nest in New York City for the First Time since 1960 at Freshkills Park
Grassland birds have rapidly declined throughout North America, and have experienced some of the steepest population declines of any group of birds in the United States. Since its transformation into an urban greenspace, Freshkills Park has become the home of many important species of grassland birds, including Grasshopper Sparrows, Bobolinks, and Eastern Meadowlarks.
...MOREConservancy Corps: Zaheer Baber
Introduce yourself! Name, title, background, education, hometown etc.
Hi! My name is Zaheer Baber, I’m a intern with the Conservancy Corps for the fall of 2020! I’m currently studying to be a teacher. I love teaching and learning, as we are always learning new things everyday and then teaching them to others.
...MOREProduce Just Ripe
Have you ever bought produce that wasn’t quite ready and then shot past ripe, so the only choice was to throw it away? The thought of wasted produce may put a damper on what you buy and what you eat. In New York State, about 4 million tons of food waste, or about 18% of the total waste produced, is shipped to landfills.
...MORE“New York City’s New Utopia” Captures Freshkills Park From All Angles
Freshkills Park is pleased to share New York City‘s New Utopia, the work of Artist Partner in Photography Jade Doskow. This September 2020 is the two-year-mark of her project illuminating the unusual beauty of Freshkills as it transforms both seasonally and via human-made intervention.
...MOREThree Months of Virtual Field Trips
At Freshkills Park, like parks around the world, we cancelled our in-person programming to protect public safety in Spring 2020. We immediately looked for other, virtual ways to share Freshkills Park’s message of ecological restoration and support students and teachers in navigating the confusing new world of distance learning.
...MORESparrow Travelers of Freshkills Park
Did you know that there are over 35 species of sparrows throughout North America? About a third of the species are fairly common throughout the continent. The most common and easily recognized sparrow is the House Sparrow. They are native to Eurasia and northern Africa and were introduced into Central Park in 1850.
...MOREVirtual Run Around South Mound
Explore the native grasslands, restored wetlands, and natural woodlands of South Mound at Freshkills Park like never before. This video leads you through a 2.5 mile loop through the back hills of South Mound, virtually on foot!
Before there was the Draft Master plan in 2001, South Mound was the first of 4 mounds capped in 1996.
...MOREVirtual Bike Ride Around East Park
Each year at Discovery Days and during Transportation Alternative’s annual Staten Island Bike The Boros event, thousands of people ride bikes around Freshkills Park’s East Mound.
Join us to explore the grasslands of East Park on this virtual bike ride that takes you on a 3.5 mile loop.
...MOREVirtual Kayak Trip
Join us for a kayak tour on Freshkills Creek. See the shoreline grasses and mounds of Freshkills Park and experience the water while someone else paddles!
Support the Freshkills Park Alliance
Return to Discovery Week @ Home
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Freshkills FreshFlicks Queue
For your next movie night, check out the Freshkills FreshFlicks staff picks. Take a trip down memory lane with a Fresh Perspective, with films that are just as environmentally relevant today!
Explore different environmental topics by clicking on the titles in our queue.
...MOREPrintable nature explorer activities
As part of Virtual Discovery Day at Freshkills Park, download and print an activity sheet from Freshkills Park and our partners to explore nature at home. Enjoy coloring sheets, scavenger hunts, word searches, animal facts, and more. Simply click on any of the images to open them in a new tab as a PDF, then print and explore!
...MOREVirtual STEAM Activity Fair
Welcome to the Discovery Week @ Home Virtual STEAM Activity Fair!
Click on the pictures below to explore and try different activities.
Thank you to our partners at MakerSpace NYC, Parks @ Home Jr., and the Staten Island Museum for sharing activities.
...MOREListen: Grassland Sounds
In 2018, Freshkills Park researchers conducted a study to learn more about grassland bird nesting preferences. Currently, a significantly greater number of grassland birds are nesting in an area known as East Mound than in the other areas. One species of special concern, the grasshopper sparrow, has been found nesting exclusively in East Mound.
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