City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works All Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects 6-2014 Wild NYC: Building Biodiversity in Fresh Kills and City Parks Melissa Zavala Graduate Center, City University of New York How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/307 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact: [email protected] Wild NYC: Building Biodiversity in Fresh Kills and City Parks By: melissa zavala A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Anthropology in partial fulfillment for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, The City University of New York 2014 ii © 2014 MELISSA ZAVALA All Rights Reserved iii This manuscript has been read and accepted for the Graduate Faculty in Anthropology in satisfaction of the dissertation requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Michael Blim________________________ ___________________________ ____________________________________ Date Chair of Examining Committee Gerald Creed_________________________ ____________________________ ____________________________________ Date Executive Officer Murphy Halliburton________________ Diana diZerega Wall_______________ James Moore______________________ Supervisory Committee THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK iv Abstract Wild NYC: Building Biodiversity in Fresh Kills and City Parks by melissa zavala Adviser: Professor Michael Blim This dissertation is an anthropological field study of the work of urban ecological maintenance being conducted in New York City through the analysis of the reclamation and biotic restoration of the Fresh Kills landfill, located in the borough of Staten Island. This landfill was once the largest urban dump in the United States. Its 2,200 acres of trash buried in four mounds have polluted an area historically noted for its natural beauty as a collection of marshes and woodlands bordering the Kill Van Kull, a tidal strait that flows into the New York Harbor. The current plan for park and nature reserve introduces rolling grassland habitats otherwise extirpated in the region and re-introduces native plants to enhance the area’s biotic diversity. The site’s large acreage will also link up with and expand the Staten Island Greenbelt. Fresh Kills, once transformed, will become one of the largest urban nature preserves in the city. This dissertation also explores the essential maintenance work performed by researchers, city workers, and volunteers alike for creating and preserving wild spaces in New York City. Despite the ecological benefits envisioned in the Fresh Kills conversion, there are challenges ahead for implementing sustainability. Chief among them is the scarce funding for land reclamation in light of competing urban priorities. The substantial commitment to convert the world’s largest landfill into an urban park and nature preserve, however, holds important lessons for public and non-profit agencies interested in urban environmental improvement. v Acknowledgements As many times as the phrase “this work could not have been possible without the help of many people” is repeated, its truth resonates especially when completing one’s own work. Banal conveniences like the internet seem too commonplace to warrant mention, but even when conducting fieldwork at home (a practical convenience), I was constantly reminded of just how much Google and its maps have improved fieldwork and everyday life. Thanks to their maps, street satellite images, and suggested directions, I saved hours of commuting time—already lengthy given the distance between my home borough and my field site. And on the subject of commuting, because this study is about urban infrastructure, it is only right to acknowledge the everyday services and conveniences that have made this research possible. Thanks are then due to the DOT and MTA for keeping the invaluable transportation system that keeps this great and complicated city running. I am thankful to not have to drive and my bibliography benefited from the time spent on trains, buses and ferries for three years. Thanks must also go especially to DSNY for their hard work keeping the city clean and to Parks for making it more hospitable to humans and non-humans alike. Without these city services, NYC would be vastly diminished. Beyond conveniences for navigating and services for maintaining cities, the support offered by people in their varying forms is especially appreciated. I want to give special thanks to Dr. Ekaterina Pechenkina for her stellar lectures in physical anthropology where I was able to learn about some of the evolutionary processes that would become prominent in my fieldwork, albeit mainly in the case of plants. Prof. Larissa Swedell was also very gracious for letting me sit in her Primates class where I learned about Primate ecological niches and to a lesser extent those of other animals as well. Thanks to them, I came to better understand biological concepts that initially felt foreign to me but have helped me make sense of the natural world. Thanks also to Miki Makihara and Gregory Johnson. Prof. Tom McGovern was very supportive of my interest in historical ecology and archaeological methods. His lectures in historical ecology as well as his readings have really shaped the way I look at landscapes and I am especially grateful to him for teaching me about the evident “changes to the land” (to borrow a phrase from Bill Cronon) that are easy to miss unless one is looking at a place using a long historical lens. In addition to the faculty members in Physical Anthropology, Archaeology and Sociolinguistics, faculty in Cultural Anthropology have also provided valued guidance. Melissa Checker greatly enhanced my familiarity with the literature on environmental justice movements in the U.S. Marc Edelman taught me a great deal about Latin America as a region and I am thankful to him on a personal level for sharing his knowledge of and love for Central America. The independent study he agreed to lead with a small group of us as we finished course work has been a significant learning experience for me while at the Graduate Center. Ida Susser’s ethnographic work in NYC and her attention to neighborhoods served as an early model for me as I switched geographic regions and grappled with the place that would become my field site, an unfamiliar NYC borough. Julie Skurski and the dissertation workshop in the spring of 2012 were helpful in getting me started on writing after being in the field for a couple of years. vi Many thanks to the Office of Educational Opportunity and Diversity Programs for the Magnet Program and their financial support while I completed coursework, and to other administrative offices including the IRB Office and the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs. Thanks, Alida Rojas, Kay Powell, Nichol Gallimore, and Hilry Fisher from those various offices. Thanks also to Judy Waldman for help with depositing. Another administrative person deserves special thanks: the ever-helpful and wise Ellen DeRiso. She has offered strategic and friendly advice throughout the years and has virtually held my hand as I have forgotten how to navigate procedures that after so many years should have been easy enough [but never were]. Whether it was to help me understand the administrative ins and outs, policies, taking a leave of absence, or helping me re-register upon returning from a leave, etc., Ellen has been there to help, providing me a laugh as she laughed along with me. Thank you for all you do for everyone, Ellen! Other friendly advice has come from a number of people in the department and outside of it. From the anthropology program, Nathan D. Woods took time away from his own demanding work to go through an early draft of my proposal and to teach me more about survey design when my methods were especially cloudy. Pellegrino Luciano’s attachment to ethnography and his interest in environmental topics, NYC, and Latin America have made for a source of rich discussions. I appreciate his suggestions for readings and involvement in AAA groups. I am especially grateful to him for general friendship over the years, in spite of the physical distance between Kuwait, Peru, and New York City. As I prepared for the second exam, I was glad to have Jennifer Sugg to help me feel less fearful of making a change in area. Thanks to Analía Villagra for commenting on a chapter, sharing references, and passing along helpful tips as we finished up. Thanks also to Maggie Whitten for friendship and camaraderie at The City College of NY as well as at the GC. Akissi Britton and Christine Pinnock deserve special mention for their support and for much needed mirth. Stephanie Campos’ practical advice from her lived experience has been most helpful, too. The time she took from teaching, family and work is something I am grateful to her for sharing with me. Some relationships have been especially invaluable during difficult times not limited to the hurdles of completing the program. Thanks, Christine Folch, for helping me keep things together during challenging times as well as for touring the classics with me (something that has enriched my knowledge of the discipline and improved my teaching). As I am grateful for the cross-subdiscipline support from faculty, I am also grateful for cross- subdisciplinary friendships. Savitha Gokulraman and Kimberly Consroe have been real friends. Constant support from Savitha and fun with Kim have made my years in the program that much better; thanks for sharing your archaeological knowledge with me. I have also been lucky enough to enjoy friendships across disciplines with the very active community in the Environmental Psychology program who are the heart and soul of the Nature, Ecology Society group (NES). The NES crew included me in their group and I have benefited immensely in particular from the annual colloquia organized by them where I was able to identify and develop what became my research topic.