Freshkills Park Blog

One sunny morning this November, visitors had the chance to participate in a meditation walk through a closed section of Freshkills Park. This was the second meditation walk offered  by artist Tattfoo Tan and the venerable Thupten Phuntsok of the Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art.

In mid-August, Freshkills Park staff and interns conducted the annual monitoring of the North Park Wetland Restoration. Each year we record how the native plants are doing, whether any invasive plant species are coming back in, and what kinds of wildlife are using the restored site.

There’s still time to see “Freshkills Park: Landscape in Motion” at the Staten Island Arts Culture Lounge in the St. George Ferry Terminal. Installed September 22 – December 7, 2016, “Landscape in Motion” is the exhibition capstone to a landscape photography competition organized by Freshkills Park with the Staten Island Advance.

As NYC Parks and the Freshkills Park Alliance work to transition the former Fresh Kills Landfill to a 2,200 acre park, the role of volunteers becomes more and more essential. Each year, we host multiple Discovery Days and cleanup events which would not be possible without the amazing support of our growing community of volunteers.

Written by Jessa Orluk, Freshkills Park Programming Associate. 

One Wednesday morning this past October, I led a group of ten students down a path next to Freshkills Park’s Main Creek. I talked as we meandered. The walk was meant to orient students to the park’s ecosystem before we returned to the kayak launch.

At his talk on October 20, Paul Moakley took an expansive approach to landscape photography. “You could use the landscape to talk about so many different issues,” the photographer, curator for the Alice Austen House Museum, and deputy director of photography at TIME explained, and his talk illustrated that point.

Written by Jessa Orluk, Freshkills Park Programming Associate.

One hot day this past October, a student told me, “Well, our waste has to go somewhere. It’s selfish, but we don’t want it here. It’s not our problem.”

He was one of 16 high school students on a field trip to Freshkills Park.

Thinking about how you can help Freshkills Park?

Each year, NYC Parks offers a range of public programs in normally closed sections of the park. These programs include public events, kayak tours, and art and research-related activities. As the season of tours and events comes to a close, we would like to know what you thought about this year’s calendar!

This November, Staten Island Athletic Club (SIAC) will return to Freshkills Park for their fourth annual Championship Cross-Country Races. Last year’s 10k and 5k races were a huge success with a record number of registered runners, including clubs like the Prospect Park Track Club, Team In Training, NYC Runs, and Central Park Track Club.

Through a juried process, Slanted Studios & MTN GODS have been selected to develop a public installation that will engage New Yorkers with the evolving Freshkills Park project. Their modular exhibit will tell the story of the park through its history, ecology, design, technology and possibility.

This summer, researchers from the College of Staten Island operated the first bird banding station at Freshkills Park. The banding station was part of The Institute for Bird Populations’ MAPS: Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship program, which has been in existence since 1989.

The exterior has been wrapped in vinyl. Microscopes and lab equipment have been safely stowed away. The disco ball has been installed.

This October, Freshkills Park’s Mobile Education Lab will host field trips for middle and high school students from across New York City for the first time ever.

On Sunday September 18, visitors had a chance to explore and learn about the Freshkills Park project at the last Discovery Day event of the year. These events open hundreds of acres and miles of trails in the normally closed park so the public can witness the landfill-to-park transformation firsthand.

The “Freshkills Park: Landscape in Motion” photography exhibition is now on display at the Staten Island Arts Culture Lounge. The collection of historical and contemporary photographs illustrate Freshkills Park’s ongoing transformation from landfill to public park. Over the course of the exhibition, associated public programs will be held at Freshkills Park and the Culture Lounge.

The Freshkills Park office has had a group of amazing interns and seasonal staff this year. As the summer comes to a close, we’d like to thank all the talented individuals who went above and beyond what was asked of them and made meaningful contributions to the park project.

Starting September 22, the Freshkills Park: Landscape in Motion photography exhibition will be on display at the Staten Island Arts Culture Lounge. The collection of historical and contemporary photographs will illustrate the transformation of the Fresh Kills Landfill on the Island’s West Shore to a public park.

At a time when grasslands have drastically declined across the country, the reclaimed land at Freshkills Park is providing a habitat for grassland bird species.

Because grasslands are favored for agricultural production, they have largely been converted into cropland and pastures.

This summer, NYC Parks staff have been working hard to re-imagine education programs at Freshkills Park. The landfill-to-park transformation is a poignant backdrop for education—each day, we witness how ecology, engineering, design, history and social sciences interact to solve 21st century challenges.

Freshkills Park will offer a Discovery Day event on Sunday September 18th from 11am to 4pm. During this free event, 700 acres and eight miles of trails in the normally closed site will be open, providing opportunities to explore and learn about the landfill-to-park project.

Starting September 22, the Freshkills Park: Landscape in Motion photography exhibition will be on display at the Staten Island Arts Culture Lounge. Through a collection of photographs and a calendar of programs, Landscape in Motion will illustrate the transformation of the Fresh Kills Landfill on the Island’s West Shore to a public park.