Public Review

Freshkills Park has been through environmental and community reviews, and will continue to do so as the Park is built out. To help keep the public review transparent, the full documents are linked below. From the beginning of the Park’s Master Planning process through the development of each part of the Park, the Freshkills Park Alliance supports and will continue to participate in the public involvement in this great project.

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Community Board Meeting to Discuss Plans for Freshkills Park

Draft Master Plan

Between Fall 2004 and Spring 2006, a series of meetings and workshops were conducted where New Yorkers were able to communicate their vision for the future of Fresh Kills. A number of guiding principles were the result of the process and were used to develop the Draft Master Plan. They are:

  • Keep the site passive and natural
  • Retain the large–scale open spaces
  • Provide paths and trails for long walks, cycle rides and horses
  • Access to the water is important
  • Limit commercial activities to the core of the site
  • Sports and recreation facilities are desirable
  • Demonstrate renewable energy
  • Demonstrate ecological techniques of land reclamation
  • Provide a connection between Richmond Avenue and the West Shore Expressway

In addition to the public meetings, the planning process was guided by a Community Advisory Group, comprised of stakeholders representing local and regional recreational, environmental, cultural and youth organizations.

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ULURP

Although design work is progressing on the first park projects, Fresh Kills Landfill is not mapped parkland. For land to have the protections that come with park designation, it must be officially mapped as parkland through the New York City Department of City Planning Uniform Land Use Review Procedure  (ULURP).

ULURP is a crucial step in ensuring that Fresh Kills will never be reopened or used for some other unwanted industrial use. It is a mandated public review process during which the public can comment and the Community Boards, Borough President, City Planning Commission, and City Council vote on the proposal.

Download the Freshkills Park ULURP Presentation – Initial Mapping Proposal, May 2008 (2.7MB)
Download the Freshkills Park ULURP Application – City Map Change, December 2013 (9.1 MB)
Download the Freshkills Park ULURP Application – Zoning Map Change, December 2013 (5.1 MB)

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GEIS and SEIS Statement of Findings

The New York City Department of Parks & Recreation (DPR) prepared a Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS) for the entire Freshkills Park project that evaluated the build out of the approximately 2,200 acre park in its entirety. Subsequently, DPR prepared a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) that analyzed the construction of park roads through East Park, examining the potential impacts in greater detail than previously examined in the GEIS and also examining park road phasing, impacts on Landfill Section 6/7 and the associated landfill infrastructure, and further examining road options and alternatives. The Statement of Findings, published in 2009, documents the environmental review process and conclusions presented in both the GEIS and SEIS.

Download the Freshkills Park GEIS and SEIS Statement of Findings, October 2009 (172 KB)

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GEIS

The New York City Department of Parks & Recreation has issued the Notice of Completion for the Freshkills Park Generic Environmental Impact Statement. Pursuant to state and local law, the document identifies any potential adverse environmental effects of proposed actions, assesses their significance, and proposes measures to eliminate or mitigate significant impacts. The chapters of the document are available for download, below, as individual PDF documents. Hard copies are also available at all Staten Island libraries and Community Boards.

A public hearing was held on Thursday, September 4, 2009 to receive comments on the Environmental Impact Statement.

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Final Generic Environmental Impact Statement (FGEIS)

Notice of Completion

Volume I

Volume II

Volume III

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Draft Generic Environmental Impact Statement (DGEIS)

The DGEIS and associated Reference Documents can be found on the NYC Parks’ Public Review of Freshkills Park website, where they are available as PDF downloads.

DGEIS Scoping documents

On May 24, 2006, the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation held a public scoping meeting on the Scope of Work for a Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS) to be prepared for the proposed Freshkills Park on Staten Island. The Final Scope is available on the NYC Parks’ Public Review of Freshkills Park website as a downloadable PDF file. This document contains a compilation of all the comments received by DPR on the draft scope and also incorporates revisions to the draft. Changes between the draft and final scopes are indicated by double–underlined text.

Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS)

Based on comments received on the Draft Generic Environmental Impact Statement for the Fresh Kills Park project, it was determined by the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation (DPR) that a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) would be prepared that focuses on the proposed East Park roads. The purpose of the SEIS is to provide a targeted and detailed analysis of the proposed East Park roads, as well as an examination of proposed alternatives. Since these segments of the proposed roads require a number of critical discretionary approvals from state and federal agencies, it is intended that the Draft SEIS (DSEIS) will address the environmental issues and concerns of these agencies through a coordinated environmental review under the direction of DPR.

As part of the SEIS process, a scoping meeting was held to provide the public and all interested and involved agencies with the opportunity to comment on the “Draft Scope of Work to prepare a DSEIS.” The purpose of the Scope of Work is to provide an agreed-upon framework and outline for the analysis that will be conducted to evaluate the potential impacts.

The public scoping meeting was held from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. on March 25, 2009 at P.S. 58, located at 77 Marsh Avenue on Staten Island.

Download SEIS Positive Declaration
Download SEIS Draft Scope of Work
Download SEIS Scoping Meeting Presentation

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Final SEIS

The New York City Department of Parks & Recreation has issued the Notice of Completion for the Freshkills Park Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement. Pursuant to state and local law, the document identifies any potential adverse environmental effects of proposed actions, assesses their significance, and proposes measures to eliminate or mitigate significant impacts. The chapters of the document are available for download, below, as individual PDF documents. Hard copies are also available at all Staten Island libraries and Community Boards.

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Draft SEIS (DSEIS)

A public hearing was held about the Fresh Kills Park Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement on Monday, June 22, 2009 at 7 p.m. at Wagner College. The chapters of the DSEIS are available to download as individual PDF documents on the NYC Parks’ Public Review of Freshkills Park website.

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