Tags: events

Dear Freshkills Park Supporter:

We hope your time with the Park this year was inspiring, enlightening, and fun. While the site is currently closed to the public, the Alliance offered over 6,000 visitors the opportunity to experience the Park through arts and science activities, hikes and tours, education programs and recreation events.

It was yet another busy fall at Freshkills Park this year, with a number of park developments, programs, and events serving as a reminder of the radical transformation that continues to occur at what was once the world’s largest landfill.

Discovery Day

On September 15^th, over one thousand visitors flocked to Freshkills for its annual Discovery Day, in which several hundred acres were open for hands-on arts and STEM activities, kite-flying, biking, and free exploration.

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.

Discover Freshkills Park and experience the unique landscape and spectacular views the landfill-to-park project has to offer. This free event is a special opportunity to explore the future park while the site is closed to the public. Hundreds of acres and miles of trails will be open for tours, bicycling, and activities for all ages.

This summer, New York Road Runners (NYRR) organized two free coach-led group runs at Freshkills Park. Nearly 400 people of all ages came out to run or walk the 3.1 mile and 6.2 mile courses.

The scenic routes took participants along waterways and over the rolling hills of the former Fresh Kills Landfill.

In 2015, sophomores from CUNY Macaulay Honors College worked with professional scientists across 233 acres and two days in August to conduct a BioBlitz at Freshkills Park. A BioBlitz is a 24-hr biological survey event aimed at developing a snapshot of as much biodiversity as possible in a given area at a particular time of year.

Freshkills Park remains closed to the public for most of the year while the project is under development. NYC Parks and the Freshkills Park Alliance work hard to offer as many ways to experience the Park as possible during this time, but we know nothing is quite like being inside the gates witnessing the landfill-to-park transformation firsthand.

Freshkills Park will offer a Discovery Day event on Sunday June 26th 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.

Freshkills Park will offer a Discovery Day event on Sunday, June 26th from 11am to 4pm. During this free public event, 700 acres of the normally closed site will be open for a one-day opportunity to discover the unique experience and views the park has to offer.

In spite of slightly chilly temperatures and some dramatic weather, Freshkills Park volunteers helped host 1,500 people at the May 15th Discovery Day. Visitors, who got to experience the Park in a variety of different ways, were awed and inspired by the landscape. 

Freshkills Park will offer a Discovery Day event on May 15th, 2016 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.

Freshkills Park will offer a Discovery Day event on Sunday, May 15th from 11am to 4pm. Thanks to the support of program partners, sponsors, and collaborators, there will be lots of ways to discover the landfill-to-park project.

5K Run/Walk
Just before Discovery Day begins, the Mid Island Rotary Club of Staten Island will host a 5K Run/Walk at the park starting at 10:30am.

Transportation Alternatives’ April 17th “Bike the Boros: Staten Island” event will include special access to Freshkills Park. Those who enjoyed the popular Tour de Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island series will love the new “Bike the Boros” series. This series is built on the same premise, to celebrate NYC streets by biking on them with gusto, with each event covering a different borough.

The upcoming Staten Island Unlimited Triennial Talk at the Alice Austen House will include a discussion and Q&A with Michael McWeeney, whose photograph of Freshkills Park is included in the photography exhibition.

McWeeney has been photographing Freshkills Park as part of Capturing Change, a series of photo essays in collaboration with Urban Omnibus that invites small groups of photographers to the site to document the engineered landscape’s evolution.

Freshkills Park will offer Discovery Day on May 15th from 11am to 4pm. During this free public event, 700 acres of the otherwise closed site will be open for outdoor recreation, providing opportunities to explore and learn about the landfill-to-park project.

Fifteen years ago this week, the final barge of household garbage arrived at Fresh Kills Landfill. To celebrate this milestone, the website’s new interactive landfill-to-park timeline illustrates almost 100 years of changes in the area.

The last barge to Fresh Kills marked the end of 53 years of landfill operations.

Freshkills Park will offer Discovery Day events on May 15th and June 26th, 2016 from 11am to 4pm. During these free events, 700 acres of the otherwise closed site will be open for tours and recreation.

Freshkills Park is a big fan of temporary structures. As a site that’s only open for public events a few days each year, it’s really valuable to have materials that can be stored, assembled, dismantled, stored, assembled, and so on.

It’s been an amazing year at Freshkills Park.  We have accomplished so much!

2015 by the numbers

Over 10,000 people experienced Freshkills Park this year, whether visiting the park during our new Discovery Days, special events, and programs or participating in presentations around the City.

Freshkills Park has a lot to be thankful for. In honor of Thanksgiving, we would like to express our gratitude to:

DSNY for their partnership on this great project.

Park Manager Bonnie Williams and her wonderful crew for caring for those sections of Freshkills Park already built.