First section of New York’s landfill-to-park project opens to public

New York City officials have opened the North Park section of Freshkills Park on Staten Island, the first section of the former Fresh Kills Landfill open to the public.

Previously considered the world’s largest landfill, Fresh Kills closed in 2001, having accepted 150 million tons of solid waste in its 53 years of operation. In 2008, construction commenced to transform the 2,200-acre inactive landfill site into New York City’s second largest park.

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“I vowed before taking office that under an Adams administration, Staten Island would no longer be the forgotten borough, and with today’s opening of the first section of Freshkills Park, we continue to deliver on that promise by providing Staten Islanders with another place to exercise, breathe fresh air and be outside,” New York Mayor Eric Adams says. “What was once an eyesore is now becoming a world-class park that will serve the residents of this borough for generations to come and that will, once fully complete, become the second-largest park within the five boroughs.”

The 21-acre North Park section includes a series of pedestrian and cycling paths, an overlook deck, a bird viewing tower, a public parking lot and a composting restroom that does not use water.

Freshkills Park has a series of covering, collection and monitoring systems in place to ensure the landfill and its byproducts do not harm parkgoers or the environment. The landfill is covered by a landfill cap, ranging in depth from 3 to 12 feet. Layers of soil, geotextiles and geomembrane stabilize landfill waste, keeping it separate from the environment and preventing the release of landfill gas. The site also employs swales, down chutes and retention ponds to collect stormwater and prevent erosion to the cap.

Freshkills Park uses a collection system to capture and treat landfill gas and leachate. The collection systems are maintained by the New York Department of Sanitation (DSNY) and overseen by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). Beneath the landfill cap, a network of wells, pipes and blowers collect landfill gas and send it to an on-site purification plant, while trenches, cut-off walls, pipes and pumps collect leachate and send it to a wastewater treatment plant. The systems will be decommissioned once monitoring data show they are no longer needed.

According to the Freshkills Park website, air, surface and groundwater monitoring are conducted on a regular basis to ensure landfill infrastructure functions properly.

“The opening of Freshkills Park is a major milestone for NYC Parks, which works each and every day to broaden parks equity to all five boroughs,” NYC Parks Commissioner Sue Donoghue says. “This transformational project will serve as a model for land reuse projects around the world and a shining example of how restoring habitats can benefit wildlife in urban areas.”

The transformation of Fresh Kills Landfill into park space was supported by more than $2 million in funding from the New York State Environmental Protection Fund through the Department of State’s (DOS) Local Waterfront Revitalization Program (LWRP). Park amenities installed with this funding include the bird observation tower, wetland overlook deck, tree nursery for native species, pathways and composting toilets.

Freshkills Park is scheduled to be completed in 2036.