How World's Biggest Garbage Dump In New York City Turned Into A Park
NDTV
The site accepted as many as 29,000 tons of garbage daily, which consumed more acreage and created a mighty stink.
Staten Island's Freshkills was once the world's largest dump. In 2001, New York City shut it down and began the process of turning it into a park. A soccer field opened in 2013 and a bikeway in 2015. North Park, the first section allowing public access into the interior of the former landfill, opened last weekend.
The Problem
When NYC Parks Commissioner Robert Moses selected Freshkills as a landfill site after World War II, it was a wetland. The plan was to build housing on top of it after three years. But New York was growing fast, and all the new trash needed to go somewhere.
The site accepted as many as 29,000 tons of garbage daily, which consumed more acreage and created a mighty stink. After many lawsuits, the city began its transformation.
