Tags: discovery day

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.

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.

In the Summer of 2019, Freshkills Park researchers set up wildlife cameras to record animal activity on site, in hopes of capturing footage of the red foxes that call the former landfill home. The camera footage shows a snapshot of some of the larger mammals that inhabit the park, with a few surprise guests!

Every year, Osprey (Pandion halibuts) make their summer homes at Freshkills Park, where they build nests on high structures above the Park’s creeks. They hunt for fish in the waterways and raise their young. Since 2018, parks researchers have been monitoring the breeding success of the Osprey at Freshkills Park.

Make your own kinetic paper animals with Deborah from MakerSpace NYC! How many things can you make from paper? From just one piece of copy paper, you can create a flying animal. Cut pieces and adhere them together so you can manipulate the wings of a paper bird, dinosaur – or any animal you can imagine!

This year Freshkills Park has taken Discovery Day virtual and is excited to host activities and experiences created by the Freshkills Park team and community partners. Near or far, join us for our first “Discovery Week @ Home.”  Throughout the week, learn more about the history, wildlife, recreation, education, and art at the park through virtual experiences.  

With temperatures climbing into the 80s this weekend, over one thousand visitors flocked to Freshkills Park for a warm edition of Discovery Day, a chance to experience the world’s largest landfill-to-park project as it continues to undergo development. Though the park is normally closed, events such as Discovery Day give visitors a chance to see what this former waste dump now has to offer in the way of passive and active recreation, wildlife habitat, and innovative engineering.

Freshkills Park will offer a Discovery Day on Sunday, September 15. This free event is a chance to explore normally closed areas of the park and experience the landscape and views the landfill-to-park project has to offer. Hundreds of acres and and miles of trails will be open for a day of bicycling, tours, and activities for all ages.

We’re excited to announce this year’s spring and summer calendar of public programs at Freshkills Park! These free tours and events offer unique opportunities to visit and learn about the landfill-to-park project. Whether kayaking through the creeks or hiking and bicycling along miles of meadows, you’ll experience large sections of the park before they open.

“I cannot endure to waste anything so precious as autumnal sunshine by staying in the house.” –Nathaniel Hawthorne, The American Notebooks.

Perfect autumnal weather welcomed hundreds of visitors to the scenery of Freshkills Park on September 30 for Discovery Day.

Freshkills Park will offer a Discovery Day on Sunday September 30. This free event is a chance to explore normally closed areas of the park and experience the landscape and views the landfill-to-park project has to offer. Hundreds of acres and and miles of trails will be open for a day of bicycling, tours, and activities for all ages.

Late summer and early fall are great times to visit Freshkills Park! As the park is built in phases, tours and events offer opportunities to explore sections of the site before they open. Whether kayaking the creeks, photographing the landscape, or hiking and bicycling along miles of meadows, these programs invite visitors to experience and learn about the landfill-to-park project.

“It was one of those days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade.”  ― Charles Dickens, Great Expectations

The briskness and overcast skies on Sunday, June 3 proved to be invigorating for the hundreds of enthusiastic visitors who attended Discovery Day throughout the event.

Artist James Powers will bring plein-air landscape drawing workshops to Discovery Day on Sunday June 3. These observational drawing workshops will create a visual awareness of the landscape and foster an understanding of the consequences our actions have on the environment through discussion.

Freshkills Park will offer a Discovery Day event on Sunday June 3. This free event is a chance to explore normally closed areas of the park and experience the landscape and views the landfill-to-park project has to offer. Hundreds of acres and and miles of trails will be open for a day of bicycling, tours, and activities for all ages.

As spring arrives and New York City becomes greener and warmer, tours and events will offer unique opportunities to enjoy the outdoors at Freshkills Park! Whether kayaking through the creeks, photographing the landscape, or hiking and bicycling along miles of meadows, these programs invite the public to learn about the landfill-to-park project and explore sections of the park before they open.

About 1,000 visitors enjoyed the early fall weather at Freshkills Park during the last Discovery Day event of the year on October 1st. The event provided free access to hundreds of acres and miles of trails in the otherwise closed site, with opportunities to explore and learn about the landfill-to-park project.

Freshkills Park will offer a Discovery Day event on Sunday October 1. This free event is a chance to explore normally closed areas of the park and enjoy the landscape and views the landfill-to-park project has to offer. Over 700 acres and eight miles of trails will be open for a day of photography, bicycling, tours, and activities for all ages.

At Discovery Day on Sunday October 1, over 700 acres and eight miles of trails at Freshkills Park will open for a day of activities and recreation opportunities. This free event is a chance to explore the normally closed park and enjoy the unique landscape and spectacular views the project has to offer.

This calendar of public tours and events offers unique opportunities to visit normally closed sections of the landfill-to-park project. Whether kayaking through the creeks, photographing the landscape, or hiking and bicycling along miles of meadows, these free programs invite the public to learn about the project and enjoy large sections of the park before they open.