City of New York Parks & Recreation Bill de Blasio, Mayor Mitchell Silver, Commissioner

Freshkills Park Project Mission

• Transform the site into a public park that is safe, beautiful and accessible. • Promote responsible and innovative strategies for environmental sustainability through demonstration, instruction and collaborative investigation. • Provide amenities and attractions that both distinguish the park and draw local, regional and international visitors. • Reconnect the site to its natural history, local ecosystems and neighboring communities.

8 LANDFILL HISTORY The Fresh Kills site ca. 1920

Only 45% of the Fresh Kills site is landfill. The other 55% is composed of creeks, wetlands and dry lowlands. March 22, 2001

Freshkills Park

• City of NY, Municipal Arts Society, & NY State Department of State conducted an International Design Competition in 2001.

• Field Operations was chosen to produce the Draft Master Plan. Ecology & Research General Conditions

• Clearly there is a noticeable presence of past and present human activities. • One of the largest contiguous areas in NYC where access is restricted. • A number of the habitats are considered rare or critical within the city and state, and are valuable in their present condition. – Only 45% is landfill. • Limited lighting throughout the majority of the site. ECOSYSTEMS Ecosystems

• Waterways & Wetlands

• Grasslands

• Woodlands Waterways • 8,336 acres of watershed that link inner Staten Island with the Arthur Kill. Tidal Wetlands Freshwater Wetlands Grasslands • Native grasses planted on mounds. – Switchgrass, fescue, asters, hopclover, and Kentucky blue grass. • Vital for birds as part of the Atlantic Flyway • Norway rat, house mouse, and meadow vole. Woodlands

• North Park and South Park

• Pre-existing

• Expansion planned – Million Trees NYC

• White-tailed deer, white footed mouse BIRDS Birds Then… Birds Now… Birds Now • Large open space buffered by mature woodlands, freshwater wetlands, and a major estuary. • Over 100 identified species throughout the year. • Over 215 species may one day make their home in the park. • Stopover on Atlantic Migratory Flyway. • Dramatic increase in overall diversity. Birds Now • Songbirds (e.g. Indigo Bunting and Savannah Sparrow) in upland grassland and successional woodland.

• Raptors (e.g. Red-tailed Hawk and Northern Harrier) in open fields and meadows.

• Waterbirds (e.g. Pied-billed Grebe and Hooded Merganser) in tidal waters and freshwater wetlands.

RESEARCH Research Opportunities Site-specific research that: • Promotes responsible and innovative strategies for environmental sustainability and restoration through demonstration, instruction, and collaborative investigation. Potential research topic areas: • Plant survival / recruitment / diversity / productivity • Climate • Soil • Hydrology • Waterway Ecology • Biodiversity • Public Health • Alternative Energy • Environmental Sustainability • Sustainable Architecture • Brownfield Ecology Current Research Phytoremediation

• Technique that utilizes plants to remove, destroy, and stabilize contaminated soil, sediment, sludge, or groundwater.

• Woody crops like poplars and willows are ideal. – Grow fast. – Produce large biomass. – Grow on heavily contaminated and marginal soils. – Produce extensive root systems. – Transpire large volumes of water. Phytoremediation

• Study in conjunction with Million Trees NYC plantings.

• Soil and plant samples collected.

• Testing which species grow best in soils. Bird Research

• Bird boxes put up at Black Rock Forest, Jamaica Bay, and Freshkills Park by Hunter College researchers (Dr. Mark Hauber). o Use of nest boxes o Banding and identity o Clutch size o Hatching and fledging success o Chicks’ growth o Isotope and toxin levels

Tree Swallows Bird Research

• Researchers aim to compare avian population dynamics, reproductive outputs, and toxin levels across a gradient of ecological restoration, urban protected area, and remote rural sites. Turtle Research

• CSI researchers (Dr. Eugenia Naro-Maciel and PhD student Seth Wollney) examining turtles in Freshkills and Long Pond Park. • ~200 captures – similar species percentages, sex ratios, parasite loads, and genetic diversity. • Invasive mosquito fish found at Freshkills but not Long Pond.

Painted Turtle – 70% Snapping Turtle – 20% Invasive Red-Eared Slider – 9% Bat Research

• CSI researchers (Dr. Richard Veit and MA student Danielle Fibikar) are netting bats at Freshkills Park. – Species diversity on Staten Island – White Nose Syndrome • Looking in summer months to see if the fungus remains. – Big Brown Bats (2), Red Bats (8), Little Brown Bats (10). Freshkills Park Team

Mayor Bill de Blasio

DPR Commissioner DSNY Commissioner Mitchell Silver Kathryn Garcia

DPR S.I. Borough Commissioner Bureau of Waste Disposal Adena Long Commissioner Dennis Diggins DPR Freshkills Park Office Eloise Hirsh, Park Administrator Master Plan Michael Callery James Corner Field Operations Andrew Deer Cait Field Laura Truettner Mariel Villeré

Project Support provided by The New York State Department of State with funds provided under Title 11 of the Environmental Protection Fund www.nyc.gov/parks/freshkillspark PROJECT OF NEW YORK CITY DEPARTMENT OF PARKS & RECREATION