Tags: New York City Department of Parks & Recreation

On the 4th of October 2015, Staten Island officially welcomed the addition of the New Springville Greenway, a 3.2-mile pedestrian and bicycle pathway alongside Richmond Avenue. The development is part of the ongoing NYC Parks effort to transform Freshkills Park, which is nearly three times the size of Central Park, from a former landfill into a public space.

This year, more than 900 people applied for a position with New York City’s Parks Fellowship & Conservation Corps. The increasingly popular program is a 40-week public service commitment in which individuals are assigned to divisions throughout the agency to help protect and enhance New York City’s parks and natural resources.

Well known to city dwellers, the urban landscape is dominated by impervious hard surfaces that require manmade sewage infrastructure to handle all rainfall and storm water management. In normally functioning environments, soil and vegetation absorbs this water and retains it to a certain capacity before runoff is generated.

On Friday October 24, 2014 New York City Department of Parks and Recreation launched the Capital Project Tracker, an interactive map of all active Parks Department projects. There currently are over 400 active projects on the Tracker, with a timeline of each project and dedicated sections including Design, Procurement, and Construction phases.

On September 29^th, Freshkills Park opened its gates to the public for the fourth annual Sneak Peak event and attracted 3,500 people, a steady increase from previous years.

They came on bikes, on ferries, and in cars; with family, with friends.

Schmul Park was officially opened yesterday. This reconstructed neighborhood park is the first portion of Freshkills Park to open to the public. The reconstructed Schmul Park now features a colorful playground, new handball and basketball courts, a grass lawn, and a modern comfort station.

This past weekend, Freshkills Park hosted two lively sets of visitors. On Saturday, Pack 118 of the Staten Island Boys of Scouts of America, explored the South and North Mounds of the park.  This curious group of young Staten Islanders learned about the myriad of wildlife and plant species that make their home at Freshkills Park, as well as the history of the landfill and master plan.  

If you, like us, are currently immersed in the London 2012 Summer Olympics, it is fascinating to imagine if the games were instead taking place in our own backyard… More specifically at Freshkills Park!

As WNYC has reminded us, during New York City’s bid for the Olympics back in 2005, Staten Island and Freshkills Park were featured as a prominent site for large scale sporting events.

In this election year, talk of the economy and jobs is pervasive. Parks aren’t typically cited by politicians as “job creators,” but it turns out, they are. Parks & Recreation jobs number 9 million in the U.S., and the Parks & Rec field has the potential to create up to 14 million jobs for many different education levels.

The 2012 International Urban Parks Conference is around the corner! From July 14th-17th, park professionals, politicians and urban park advocates from around the world will attend “Greater & Greener: Reimagining Parks for 21st Century Cities,” held in New York City. The conference is presented by City Parks Alliance.