"Sneak Peak" at Freshkills Park

The New York City Department of Parks & Recreation is excited to invite you to the first public event *ever* at the Freshkills Park site! Autumn is the most beautiful season to see the hills and creeks of the closed 2,200-acre Fresh Kills Landfill, now beginning their transformation into NYC’s biggest and most fascinating new park, on Staten Island’s west shore. Join us for a preview of what the park will have to offer!

KITE FLYING & KITE MAKING | CANOE TOURS | WALKING TOURS | BIRDWATCHING | BIRDHOUSE BUILDING | COMPOSTING & REUSE WORKSHOPS | LIVE MUSIC | CHILDREN’S GAMES | FOOD | GIVEAWAYS | ARTS & CRAFTS | PONY RIDES | AND MUCH MORE!

Program Schedule

All programs are free. Day-of registration required for all tours.

GUIDED WALKING TOURS

11:15 a.m.
with Angelyn Chandler, Capital Program Manager, Freshkills Park, NYCDPR
& Carrie Grassi, Land Use and Outreach Manager, Freshkills Park, NYCDPR
Angelyn Chandler oversees design and construction of the Freshkills Park project. She is a registered architect, has worked for NYCDPR since 2003 and previously oversaw all capital projects in the borough of Queens. Carrie Grassi manages interagency affairs, land use coordination, community outreach and research partnerships for the project. She is a city planner and has worked on the Freshkills Park project since 2006, before which she was a program manager at Partnerships for Parks.

12:15pm
with Ellen Neises, Associate Principal, James Corner Field Operations
Ellen Neises has managed the master planning and design of Freshkills Park for landscape architecture and urban design firm James Corner Field Operations since the firm’s initial design competition entry in 2001. She has also managed a number of other high-profile projects, including Columbia University’s Manhattanville Campus project and Lake Ontario Park in Toronto.

1:15pm
with Ted Nabavi, Director of Waste Management Engineering, NYC Department of Sanitation
Ted Nabavi directs landfill infrastructure engineering and ensures compliance with federal, state and local environmental laws and regulations at the Fresh Kills Landfill and other Department of Sanitation facilities. He has 20 years of experience with the agency and has managed over $1 billion in environmental engineering projects.

2:15pm
with Terry Doss, Senior Ecologist, Biohabitats, Inc.
Terry Doss leads Biohabitats' team of ecologists, engineers and landscape architects, who have been working to incorporate ecological and conservation principles into the design and development of Freshkills Park. Terry is an ecologist with over 25 years experience in ecological restoration, having successfully managed habitat restoration projects across the country.

3:15pm
with Robin Nagle, Anthropologist in Residence, NYC Department of Sanitation
Robin Nagle is the Department of Sanitation's Anthropologist-in-Residence, an appointment she has held since 2006. Her major projects include organizing a Sanitation Museum, establishing the DSNY Archives, and creating the Sanitation Oral History Project. She is also finishing a book, called Picking Up, about what it's like to be a sanitation worker in New York today. Nagle teaches anthropology and urban studies at New York University, where she is director of the Draper Interdisciplinary Master's Program.

CANOE TOURS

11:15 a.m., 12:15 p.m., 1:45 p.m., 2:45 p.m.
Parks’s Urban Park Rangers will lead the first-ever public canoe tours of Main Creek, one of the tidal bodies of water that infiltrate the Freshkills Park site and the adjacent William T. Davis Wildlife Refuge. Ages 8 and up. Water safety instruction provided beforehand.

TRAM TOURS

11:15 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 1:00 p.m., 1:30 p.m., 2:45 p.m., 3:15 p.m.
A guided tram tour of the northernmost hill of the Freshkills Park site, with views of Main Creek, the William T. Davis Wildlife Refuge, landfill closure and roadbed preparation on the easternmost hill and a variety of plant and animal life.

BIRDWATCHING TOURS

11:45 a.m., 2:00 p.m.
Join naturalists from the Staten Island Museum on a tram tour of the northernmost hill of the Freshkills Park site, with a number of stops along with the way to observe the many meadow birds, water birds and birds of prey that live at the site. Bring binoculars if you have them.

KITE MAKING and KITE FLYING

11:00 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Launch a kite from 150 feet above sea level, atop of the northernmost hill at the Freshkills Park site! This spectacular area overlooks Main Creek and the William T. Davis Wildlife Refuge and offers views of Lower Manhattan, Jersey City, much of Staten Island and nearby New Jersey. All kites welcome, but if you don’t have one, you can make and decorate one from a free kit, with the help of event staff.

WORKSHOPS

11:30 a.m.
The New York City Compost Project will share the different ways to compost, the science behind the decomposition process, and ways to troubleshoot common composting issues. Composting at home turns organic material into a valuable soil amendment, and anyone can do it! Appropriate for all ages.

12:00pm
The Swedish Cottage Marionette Theatre will lead a puppet-making workshop. Participants will get a step-by-step lesson in building and decorating stick puppets.

12:30 p.m.
GrowNYC’s Office of Recycling Outreach & Education invites you to play the recycling game. Learn why recycling is important and how to recycle in the in the NYC Recycling Program. Appropriate for all ages.

1:30pm
The Swedish Cottage Marionette Theatre will lead a puppet-making workshop. Participants will get a step-by-step lesson in building and decorating stick puppets.

2 p.m.
Solar One will introduce, define and discuss the economic and quality-of-life benefits of solar thermal technology, photovoltaics and white roofs, as well as reducing fuel and utility costs in your home or business.

3 p.m.
The New York City Compost Project will share the different ways to compost, the science behind the decomposition process, and ways to troubleshoot common composting issues. Composting at home turns organic material into a valuable soil amendment, and anyone can do it! Appropriate for all ages.

PROGRAM PARTNERS

The Home Depot, Showplace Entertainment Center, Bags for the People, The Staten Island Museum, The Staten Island Children’s Museum, the Staten Island Zoo, WSIA 88.9 FM at the City University of New York, Solar One, The NYC Compost Project, GrowNYC, NYC Water, James Corner Field Operations, Biohabitats, Inc., The New York City Department of Transportation and the New York City Department of Sanitation.