A portion of the former Fresh Kills landfill in Staten Island has been turned into parkland and the soil will be replenished by composted human feces flushed from a solar-powered restroom.
Mayor Eric Adams heralded the dung-filled development during a groundbreaking ceremony at the former home of the world’s largest garbage dump on Sunday.
“The waste from the composting restroom will go back into feeding our soil,” Adams said.
“So, we are going to turn crap into energy.”
Adams’ quip was met by guffaws from surrounding elected officials, including Rep. Nicole Malliotakis and Borough President Vito Fossella.
“This may be a transformation but for me, it’s a restoration. It’s a restoration to what should have been many years ago,” Fossella said. “To the people of Staten Island, it wasn’t just a nuisance, it was a disgrace.”
Assemblyman Michael Tannousis recommended another suitable location for the restroom facility that converts “crap” into useful resources.
“I just want to tell Mr. Mayor, that machine there that turns crap into energy, we could use that in Albany,” Tannousis cracked, referring to the state capital where the legislature and the governor convene.
Adams said the conversion of Fresh Kills to parkland was an important environmental priority of his administration to bring “equity” to the “working class” residents of Staten Island.
He called the transformation a “marvel of human ingenuity and engineering.”
Fresh Kills stopped accepting garbage in March 2001, after an agreement was struck by then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Gov. George Pataki.
For a brief time, the defunct dump was used to bring remains from the destroyed World Trade Center site following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
The 2,200-acre Fresh Kills was the last city garbage disposal site to close after opening in 1948. The landfill spanned both sides of the West Shore Expressway and the putrid smell stretched for miles.
The garbage dump was so expansive and prominent that it was captured in images from outer space.
Anger from Staten Island residents over the landfill had once propelled the borough’s secessionist movement. The area served as a symbol of the least populated and most conservative borough being mistreated by City Hall.
Two-thirds of islanders voted to secede from the Big Apple in a 1993 non-binding referendum, but the state Legislature refused to pass legislation to consummate the divorce.
Fossella — who fought to close the landfill as a councilman in the 1990s along with then-Borough President Guy Molinari — said the conversion of Fresh Kills to parkland for residents to use is long overdue, but welcomed.
“We were 5% of the city’s population. We received 100% of the trash. Those days are gone,” Fossella said.
The north section of Fresh Kills Park officially opened Sunday and other sections will open in phases and will be completed in 2036, Parks Commissioner Sue Donoghue said.
The opened 21-acre North Park section of Fresh Kills Park will offer breathtaking views of the area’s hills and waterways, access to the William T. Davis Wildlife Refuge, and opportunities for birdwatching.
The project included a series of pedestrian and cycling paths, an overlook deck, a bird viewing tower, a public parking lot, and a composting restroom that uses no water.
When fully operational, Fresh Kills Park will be the second largest in the city, exceeding Central Park. Pelham Bay Park in The Bronx is the city’s largest.
