Key player in shutting down Staten Island garbage dump revisits its soil for the first time in decades

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — More than two decades ago, he shut it down. Now he walks its green paths for the first time — no stench, no trash, just wind and wild grass.

“To see the transformation, it’s just amazing. What’s really amazing is to see the natural life come back,” Joe Lhota said.

In 1996, Lhota, then deputy mayor under Rudy Giuliani, was tasked with leading the effort to close Fresh Kills Landfill, the world’s largest. After Giuliani struck the deal, Lhota was responsible for developing the plan for what came next — how to transport mountains of New York City’s garbage, negotiate with out-of-state communities willing to take it for a price, rail it all out and testify to support the strategy.

“What drove me was clearly the people of Staten Island. They were burdened by having this dump and the health of the people of Staten Island was negatively impacted so significantly that it was just unfair what was going on. That drove me more than anything else,” Lhota said.

To thank Lhota for his years of effort, Borough President Vito Fossella and Department of Buildings Commissioner James Oddo invited him to tour the transformed Freshkills Park on Friday morning and honored him by declaring April 25 “Joe Lhota Day.”

“Good people in public life can do so much and to go full circle… good people like Joe Lhota in public life made this day possible. And therefore, today, by the power vested in me, this is Joe Lhota Day,” Fossella said.

The Fresh Kills Landfill was once a monumental blight on Staten Island — not just an eyesore and a stench, but a pressing public health concern. What started as a temporary site in 1948 grew into the world’s largest landfill by 1955. At its peak in 1986-87, it received up to 29,000 tons of waste each day, according to the City Parks Department. It’s closure was official in 2001.

“The smell was horrific at the time,” Lhota recalled of when the landfill was still operating. “The sanitation department used to have tons and tons of gallons of pine smell to mask the smell.”

Today, portions of Freshkills Park have opened in phases and the park is expected to be fully open by 2036. At 2,200 acres, it will be nearly three times the size of Central Park when completed.

While the environmental challenges and precise engineering required for closing and transforming the landfill were significant, it was key political figures who first set the wheels in motion.

Fossella said he introduced legislation centered on creating a solid plan to close Fresh Kills Landfill. He recalled the pushback it faced, with many viewing it as an impossible task. However, he quietly garnered 26 sponsors for the bill (of the 51 total members of City Council), securing the votes necessary for the bill to pass a floor vote.

“When one side cancels the other out, nothing gets done. The Fresh Kills Landfill closed because a lot of the elected officials, regardless of the party, came together to make sure it closed,” Lhota said. “When there’s a problem, it doesn’t matter what side of the political spectrum you’re on. It’s important to come together, compromise and come to the conclusion of what’s in the best interest of the people.“

Oddo added that Guy Molinari, who served as borough president from 1990 to 2001, left some of the most significant fingerprints on the fight to close Fresh Kills Landfill.

The first phase for Freshkills Park, North Park, opened in Oct. 2023, covering 21 acres.

José Ramírez-Garofalo, director of science and research at Freshkills Park, who joined the tour, described some of the wildlife he’s been tracking: native species like grasshopper sparrows, ospreys and bald eagles.

“The quality of this habitat is so high that we’re considered one of the most important grassland habitats in Northeastern North America. We’re not just restoring; we’re building this new habitat and these new parks for everyone to enjoy, including the wildlife,” Ramírez-Garofalo said.

He added that Freshkills Park has the cleanest water in the Hudson River Estuary.

“Very often it’s the people up top who get the accolades and the sunshine, but it’s guys like Joe Lhota who actually got it done. And I think the people behind the scenes who got it done need to be acknowledged,” Fossella said.

Also joining the tour were Mark Murphy, Freshkills Park Administrator, Staten Island Borough Parks Commissioner Lynda Ricciardone, Parks Department Chief of Staff Joseph Homsey, and Ed Burke, Chief of Staff at the Staten Island Zoo.