Uploaded January 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Staten Island's Freshkills Park, once the world's largest landfill, has been remarkably transformed into one of New York City's largest wildland areas. With Freshkills Park Administrator Mark Murphy.
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Freshkills Park freshkillspark.org/landfill-engineering/collection-and-processing
Freshkills Park Instagram instagram.com/freshkillspark
Open House New York ohny.org
Support Freshkills: Adopt a Violet or Butterfly freshkillspark.org/violets
Sources/links:
Leachate storymap (Freshkills Park Alliance) storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/e4ec5944e9bb47d5ad9b29506dee0864
The Park Plan freshkillspark.org/the-park/the-park-plan
Collection and Processing (Freshkills Park) freshkillspark.org/landfill-engineering/collection-and-processing
Landfill cross-section graphic (Wired) wired.com/2010/11/st-freshkills
From garbage to energy at Fresh Kills (NYT) archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/09/15/nyregion/from-garbage-to-energy-at-fresh-kills.html
Incheon, South Korea Dream Park korean-culture.org/eng/webzine/202106/sub02.html
The Sedge Wren has returned (CNN) cnn.com/interactive/2023/10/us/sedge-wren-bird-returns-new-york
Garbage leaves New York (NBC) nbcnews.com/id/wbna8550386
Chapters
0:00 Welcome to Freshkills Park
0:42 "The stench was ever-present"
2:35 History of "the wasteland"
3:39 How the park has been made safe to use
4:12 A native grassland comes back to life
6:43 A Marvel of Engineering (how it works)
10:28 Mark's background
11:10 An escape from NYC
11:43 A contrast to Central Park
13:14 Park plan
13:48 Highest naturally occurring place on the Eastern Seaboard
15:28 Aerial tour of the site
17:22 Bird Backpack Program
19:49 Educating NYC's kids
21:42 Parks to 1% of NYC budget
22:25 Largest landfill in the world
23:01 Other examples around the world
23:25 Birdwatching observation platforms
23:42 Stormwater runoff system
24:23 Adopt a violet or butterfly
For decades this was the world’s largest landfill, where 150 million tons of garbage was dumped along the banks of the Fresh Kills estuary in New York City’s Staten Island. But today these 200-foot tall mounds of trash have been transformed into a wildland recreation area nearly three times the size of Central Park. To see it first hand, my friends at Open House New York organized a sunset group walk with Mark Murphy, President of this impressive project, and Field Educator Jen Gallo.
Discover the innovative landfill waste management techniques that led to this environmental sustainability success story on Staten Island, New York. Witness the ongoing ecological restoration efforts that are bringing new life to this urban green space.
Staten Island's Freshkills Park, once the world's largest landfill, has been remarkably transformed into one of New York City's largest wildland areas. With Freshkills Park Administrator Mark Murphy.
Subscribe for more youtube.com/TheDailyConversation
Freshkills Park freshkillspark.org/landfill-engineering/collection-and-processing
Freshkills Park Instagram instagram.com/freshkillspark
Open House New York ohny.org
Support Freshkills: Adopt a Violet or Butterfly freshkillspark.org/violets
Sources/links:
Leachate storymap (Freshkills Park Alliance) storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/e4ec5944e9bb47d5ad9b29506dee0864
The Park Plan freshkillspark.org/the-park/the-park-plan
Collection and Processing (Freshkills Park) freshkillspark.org/landfill-engineering/collection-and-processing
Landfill cross-section graphic (Wired) wired.com/2010/11/st-freshkills
From garbage to energy at Fresh Kills (NYT) archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/09/15/nyregion/from-garbage-to-energy-at-fresh-kills.html
Incheon, South Korea Dream Park korean-culture.org/eng/webzine/202106/sub02.html
The Sedge Wren has returned (CNN) cnn.com/interactive/2023/10/us/sedge-wren-bird-returns-new-york
Garbage leaves New York (NBC) nbcnews.com/id/wbna8550386
Chapters
0:00 Welcome to Freshkills Park
0:42 "The stench was ever-present"
2:35 History of "the wasteland"
3:39 How the park has been made safe to use
4:12 A native grassland comes back to life
6:43 A Marvel of Engineering (how it works)
10:28 Mark's background
11:10 An escape from NYC
11:43 A contrast to Central Park
13:14 Park plan
13:48 Highest naturally occurring place on the Eastern Seaboard
15:28 Aerial tour of the site
17:22 Bird Backpack Program
19:49 Educating NYC's kids
21:42 Parks to 1% of NYC budget
22:25 Largest landfill in the world
23:01 Other examples around the world
23:25 Birdwatching observation platforms
23:42 Stormwater runoff system
24:23 Adopt a violet or butterfly
For decades this was the world’s largest landfill, where 150 million tons of garbage was dumped along the banks of the Fresh Kills estuary in New York City’s Staten Island. But today these 200-foot tall mounds of trash have been transformed into a wildland recreation area nearly three times the size of Central Park. To see it first hand, my friends at Open House New York organized a sunset group walk with Mark Murphy, President of this impressive project, and Field Educator Jen Gallo.
Discover the innovative landfill waste management techniques that led to this environmental sustainability success story on Staten Island, New York. Witness the ongoing ecological restoration efforts that are bringing new life to this urban green space.
