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Introduction

Fresh Kills Park is a proposed 2,200 acre public park located on Staten Island in New York City, NY, United States.¹ When completed, Fresh Kills Park will be three times the size of Central Park, and constitutes on of the largest expansions of NYC parks in over 100 years.

History

The Fresh Kills Landfill was opened in 1948 by Robert Moses and, due to public pressure and EPA involvement, received its last barge of garbage on March 22, 2001². However, the landfill was temporarily reopened after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and the debris from the collapse of the World Trade Center Buildings was deposited there.²

Site

The original Fresh Kills Site encompassed approximately 3,000 acres. By 1980, the was constricted to an area of approximately 2,200, with the remaining 800 acres being relinquished over the years to parks and other public uses. Of the 2,200 remaining acres, only about 1,200 acres were actively used for debris mounding during the later years of the landfil. For a map of Fresh Kills Park, click here.

Design Competition

In 1999, in anticipation of the closing of the landfill, the New York City Department of City Planning formed an international design competition organizing committee to sponsor the development of a master plan for Fresh Kills Park. On September 5, 2001, The City of New York announced the start of the international design competition for Fresh Kills Park. The design competition was a two stage competition, with the first stage being an open competition. Design teams were necessarily multi-disciplinary and typically consisted of landscape architects, architects, ecologists, economists, engineers, planners, artitsts and graphic designers. Based on criteria specified in the Request For Proposals (RFP) and the design teams' subsequent proposals that responded to the RFP, six teams were selected to create a Conceptual Design and Planning Approaches. These six shortlisted teams comprised the second stage of the design competition. In December of 2001, the jury announced three teams' proposals were ranked from first to third place. These teams were (in order from first to third) Field Operations, JMP Landscape and John McAsian + Partners, and RIOS Associates, Inc. Following the International Design Competition, the City awarded a contract to Field Operations to prepare a draft Master Plan for the site.

The Jury

The second stage of the competition was judged by an panel of internationally renowned professionals with experience relevant to the needs and use of the park, as well as representatives from the local government and community. The jury consisted of the following people and their respective entities⁴:

Angela Danadjieva - UIA Principal, Danadjieva & Koenig Associates
Planners, Urban Designers, Landscape Architects, Architects
Tiburon, CA
Charles Gwathmey - FAIA Principal, Gwathmey Siegel & Associates
Architects, New York, NY
Laurie D. Olin - FASLA  Principal, Olin Partnership
Landscape Architects, Philadelphia, PA
Dr. Phil Shaw - Environmental Consultant; Lecturer
University of East London, London, UK
Joel A. Miele, Sr. -  PE Commissioner of New York City Department of Environmental
Protection; Former Member of City Planning Commission
Thomas Paulo - Staten Island Borough Parks Commissioner
Joseph B. Rose - Acting Chairman and Director, NYC City Planning Commission
Eamon Moynihan - Deputy Secretary of State, NYS Department of State

The Design Competition Entries

The six shortlisted design teams are listed below, in no particular order:

rePark - Mark Rios/Rogher Sherman

Design Team:

URS Corporation - Environmental Consultants and Civil Engineering
Wallace, Roberts & Todd - Landscape Architecture and Planning
Roger Sherman - Architecture and Urban Design
Amy S. Greene Environmental - Environmental Consultant and Ecologist
Margie Ruddick Landscape - Landscape Architecture
John Ingersoll - Alternative Energy Consultant
Geto & de Milly - Community Process Consultant
Greg Lock - Artist
Almond Zigmund - Artist
Martine Kaczynski - Artist
Matt Bakkom - Artist
Center for Land Use Interpretation
William L. Rathje - The Garbage Project

Proposal

Lifescape - Field Operations (Stan Allen/James Corner)

Design Team

GeoSyntec Consultants - Landfill Engineering, Closure / Post-closure Implementation and Remedial Design
Arup Partnership - Transportation, Infrastructure, Civil, Hydrological and Environmental Engineering
Applied Ecological Services - Habitat Restoration and Ecological Management
Hamilton, Rabinovitz & Alschuler - Economic Analysis and Policy Strategy
Tomato - Media and Communications Art
L'Observatoire International - Lighting Design
Richard Lynch - Plant and Wetland Ecology
Paul Kerlinger - Wildlife and Avian Ecology

Proposal

Dynamic Coalition - Mathur/da Cunha + Tom Leader

Design Team

Mathur & Da Cunha - Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Planning
John Kaliski / Urban Studio - Architecture, Urban Design and Public Outreach
Arup Partnership - Transportation, Infrastructure, Civil, Hydrological and Environmental Engineering
Steven Apfelbaum / Applied Ecological Services - Habitat Restoration and Ecological Management
Leah Levy - Art Curator / Artist Coordination

Proposal

Parklands - Hargreaves Associates

Design Team

Polshek Partnership Architects - Transportation, Infrastructure, Civil, Architecture and Urban Design
Sadat Associates, Inc. - Landfill Engineering
Allee King Rosen & Fleming, Inc. - Environmental Engineering
Sustainable Science - Wetland Specialist
Moffatt & Nichol Engineers - Civil, Utility and Marine Engineering
Economic Research Associates - Economic Development Consultant
Doug Hollis - Artist
Zetlin Strategic Communications - Community Participation Facilitator
Ralph Appelbaum Associates - Programming
Chris Grubbs - Architectural Illustrator

Proposal

X Park - Sasaki Associates

Design Team

Urban Instruments, Inc. - Landscape and Urban Design
ENSR International - Ecology and Environmental Engineering
E. Gail Suchman - Public Participation and Environmental Regulations
Hamilton, Rabinovitz & Alschuler - Economic Development
Steven N. Handel - Ecology and Environmental Controls

Proposal

JMP Landscape and John McAslan + Partners

Design Team

Arup Partnership - Transportation, Infrastructure, Civil, Hydrological and Environmental Engineering
Bioscan Environmental Consultancy - Environmental and Ecological Restoration
Public Art Fund, New York City - Public Art
Davis Langdon & Everest and Davis Langdon & Seah International - Project Cost and Value Management

Proposal

Lifescape

External Links

Fresh Kills Park Blog

NYC Department of Parks and Recreation Fresh Kills Project Overview

NYC Department of City Planning Fresh Kills Park Information

Field Operations

References

¹ NYC Department of City Planning, Fresh Kills Park Project - Introduction. Retrieved May 19, 2009

² NYC Department of Parks and Recreation - About the Site. Retrieved May 19, 2009

³ NYC Department of City Planning - FAQ Retrieved May 9, 2009

⁴ NYC Department of City Planning - Project History Retrieved May 21, 2009