Fresh Kills Park Project
The Vision
In 2001, the City of New York, led by the Department of City Planning, conducted a master planning process for Fresh Kills that resulted in an illustrative park plan, also known as the Draft Master Plan. (To learn more about the Draft Master Plan, visit the Department of City Planning’s Fresh Kills web page.) The Department of Parks & Recreation has now taken over responsibility for the implementation phase of the project, using the Draft Master Plan as a conceptual guide. The basic framework of the plan takes three separate systems - programming, wildlife, and circulation - and integrates them into one cohesive and dynamic unit.
Programming
Fresh Kills Park will be a world-class park with an incredible variety of public spaces and facilities for social, cultural and physical activity, for learning and play. The site is large enough to support many sports and programs that are unusual in the city, possibilities of which include horseback riding, mountain biking, nature trails and large-scale public art.
Wildlife
Fresh Kills Park will also support richly diverse habitats for wildlife, birds and plant communities, as well as provide extraordinary natural settings for recreation. Through ecological innovation and creative design, new native plant communities will inhabit the site and connect the park to adjacent park sites on Staten Island.
Circulation
An expansive network of paths, recreational waterways, and enhanced access to and from the West Shore Expressway through a system of park drives will help to create an animated, inter-connected parkland. People will be able to experience the site by canoe, on horseback, on mountain bike, on foot, or by car.
Five Parks in One
Fresh Kills Park will have five main areas: the Confluence, North Park, South Park, East Park, West Park. Each area will have a distinct character and programming approach.
The Confluence: Creek Landing & the Point
Creek Landing
Aerial View of Creek Landing
The Creek Landing is located where Richmond Creek and Main Creek join the central Fresh Kills Creek. The vision for Creek Landing is for waterfront activities, including an esplanade, canoe and boat launch, special restaurants, a visitor center, and a huge event lawn for gatherings, picnics and sunbathing. The area would also allow for car parking and could be a central point of arrival and departure for park users.
The Point
Aerial View of The Point
The Point is a large, level area on the south side of Fresh Kills Creek which can provide event areas, sports fields, lawns and art-works. A long promenade along the water’s edge could support restaurants with outdoor dining, a banquet facility and an open-air market roof, as well as ferry service to and from Manhattan. Old machinery and artifacts from Fresh Kills, such as old barges re-made as floating planted gardens, may form a unique feature here. The promenade would be a vibrant social space, with seating, fishing piers, and great views across the water of the Isle of Meadows nature preserve.
North Park
Aerial View of North Park
The vision for North Park is characterized by simple, broad natural settings, meadows, wetlands and creeks. Adjacent to the Travis neighborhood, and overlooking the William T. Davis Wildlife Refuge, this area is planned to be kept open, with paths and trails to the creek edges. Extensive pathways—specifically designated for walking, for bicycles or for multiple uses— would encircle the northern mound. Scenic overlooks and spaces for picknicking, fishing, and sitting as well as a small neighborhood park and playground are proposed.
South Park
Aerial View of South Park
The vision for South Park is characterized by large natural settings and active recreational spaces, including soccer fields, mountain biking pathways and bridle trails. Adjacent to Arden Heights, South Park would also support a neighborhood park with picnic areas, sports fields and nature trails. The hilltops afford spectacular views across the site to distant horizons.
East Park
Aerial View of East Park
The park drive will be sensitively designed as a scenic route and be integrated into the landscape. The design team is presently studying two alternative drive routes, both of which are equally effective in meeting traffic goals. Route A travels along the western side of the East Mound, Route B parallels Richmond Avenue on the eastern side of the East Mound.
West Park
Aerial View of West Park
West Park is characterized by the site’s largest mound, and is bounded by the West Shore Expressway to the east and the Arthur Kill to the west. Set upon a vast hilltop wildflower meadow, the top of West Park will offer spectacular 360-degree views of the region, including a direct sightline to lower Manhattan. West Park will also provide paths and natural areas. An earthwork monument, in remembrance of the exhaustive and heroic September 11 recovery effort that took place in this location, is proposed for this site.