Fresh Kills (from the Middle

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

word '' kille'', meaning "riverbed" or "water channel") is a stream and freshwater

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environm ...

in the western portion of the

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle A ...

of Staten Island. It is the site of the

Fresh Kills Landfill The Fresh Kills Landfill was a landfill covering in the New York City borough of Staten Island in the United States. The name comes from the landfill's location along the banks of the Fresh Kills estuary in western Staten Island. The landfil ...

, formerly New York City's principal landfill. The watershed (basin) of the Fresh Kills drains much of the wet lowlands of the western portion of the island and flows into the Arthur Kill around the Isle of Meadows. Its co-tributaries include the

Rahway River The Rahway River is a river in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex, Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex, and Union County, New Jersey, Union Counties, New Jersey, United States, The Rahway, along with the Elizabeth River (New Jersey), Elizabeth ...

, Morses Creek (New Jersey),

Piles Creek Hemorrhoids (or haemorrhoids), also known as piles, are sinusoid (blood vessel), vascular structures in the anal canal. In their normal state, they are cushions that help with Human feces, stool control. They become a disease when swelling (m ...

, and, via Newark Bay, the Passaic River and the

Hackensack River The Hackensack River is a river, approximately 45 miles (72 km) long, in the U.S. states of New York (state), New York and New Jersey, emptying into Newark Bay, a back chamber of New York Harbor. The drainage basin, watershed of the ri ...

. The channel around the north end of the Isle of Meadows is sometimes called Little Fresh Kill and the southern channel is called Great Fresh Kill. The stream has two major branches. The north branch is Main Creek. The south branch is Richmond Creek, which drains much of the central part of the island, with its headwaters near

Historic Richmond Town Historic Richmond Town is an authentic town and farm museum complex in the neighborhood of Richmondtown, Staten Island, in New York City. It is located near the geographical center of the island, at the junction of Richmond Road and Arthur Kill R ...

, on the southern end of the

terminal moraine A terminal moraine, also called end moraine, is a type of moraine that forms at the terminal (edge) of a glacier, marking its maximum advance. At this point, debris that has accumulated by plucking and abrasion, has been pushed by the front edge ...

of the island. The system of streams provides recreational kayaking and wildlife viewing in the preserved

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The p ...

s. Since 2006, the

New York City Department of Parks and Recreation The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, also called the Parks Department or NYC Parks, is the department of the government of New York City responsible for maintaining the city's parks system, preserving and maintaining the ecolog ...

has been implementing the master plan developed by landscape architecture firm Field Operations to transform

into Fresh Kills Park. Covering , nearly three times the size of

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban park in the United States, with an estimated ...

, Fresh Kills Park will offer a variety of public spaces and facilities for varied activities including nature trails, mountain biking, community events, outdoor dining, sports fields, kayaking and canoeing. In addition, the park's design, ecological restoration and cultural and educational programming will emphasize environmental sustainability and a renewed public concern for our human impact on earth. Renewable energy is planned both for use in capital projects and for large-scale demonstration and public benefit. Photovoltaic cells, wind turbines and geothermal heating and cooling are components of current capital projects. While the full build-out will continue in phases for the next 30 years, the first sections of parkland to be developed opened in early 2010, and the park is expected to be complete by the 2030s.Fresh Kills Park

. Accessed October 1, 2007.

References

Rivers of Staten Island Rivers of New York (state) {{NewYork-river-stub

See also

References