Somewhere under nearly 2,200 acres of rolling meadows and wetlands on Staten Island’s west shore, there are approximately 150 million tons of compressed garbage. By 2036, when Freshkills Park is expected to be fully open, those former landfill cells will be covered by one of the largest public parks in New York City — bigger than Central Park, bigger than Prospect Park, and almost entirely built by the sustained effort of an organization that most New Yorkers have never heard of: the Freshkills Park Alliance.

The Alliance is the nonprofit partner to the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation responsible for programming, community engagement, environmental stewardship, and the volunteer infrastructure that makes the park’s phased development possible. And right now, with spring in full swing, they’re actively looking for people to show up and help build something remarkable.

The Transformation Story

Fresh Kills — the landfill, not the park — operated from 1948 to 2001, when it was closed following pressure from Staten Island community advocates who had spent decades fighting to shut it down. At its peak in the 1980s, it was the largest landfill in the world, receiving 29,000 tons of garbage per day from New York City’s households.

The transformation into a park began almost immediately after closure. In 2001, the city launched a design competition for Freshkills Park. The winning design, by landscape architecture firm Field Operations (the same firm behind the High Line), envisions a park organized around the four former landfill mounds, with miles of trails, water access, ecological restoration zones, and spaces for art, recreation, and community gathering.

Twenty-five years into that transformation, meaningful sections of the park are already open for programming and volunteer events, even as construction continues on other sections. The result is a park that is being built in public — where visitors can witness the ecological succession happening in real time, from invasive plant removal to native meadow establishment to the slow return of wildlife to land that was once buried under waste.

The Freshkills Park Docent Program

At the heart of the Alliance’s volunteer structure is the Freshkills Park Docent Program — a hub of dedicated volunteers who assist in leading stewardship events, including invasive plant removals, garden building, and hands-on activities that promote community-based care for the park.

Docents are invited to join educational guided site tours and other public programming once they complete training — and no prior experience is required. The Alliance specifically notes that the only prerequisites are an interest in nature and a willingness to learn how to lead. Staff provide trainings and resources, Freshkills Park Alliance swag (T-shirt, hat, printed materials), and opportunities for docents and their families to participate in park programming from March through November.

Volunteer events run throughout the spring and include beautification and cleanup projects at multiple sites: Schmul Park, the New Springville Greenway, 2240 Richmond Avenue, and others. If you’re on Staten Island and looking for a way to connect with neighbors while doing meaningful outdoor work, a Freshkills volunteer shift is genuinely one of the better options in the borough.

Why This Is a Community Story, Not Just an Environmental One

Freshkills Park is sometimes framed as an environmental reclamation project — which it is — but the community dimension is equally significant. Staten Island is the least visited and least discussed of New York’s five boroughs. It is also the borough that suffered most from the Fresh Kills landfill for more than five decades: the smell, the truck traffic, the visual blight, and the health concerns that came with living adjacent to the world’s largest garbage dump.

The transformation into a world-class park is, in that sense, a form of long-overdue reparation to a borough that gave up decades of quality of life for a city that largely ignored the cost. The Freshkills Park Alliance — and the hundreds of Staten Islanders who volunteer for it — are the people making that transformation real, one invasive plant removal and one trail project at a time.

The Alliance also runs an art program, a scientific research program that partners with universities and agencies studying the ecological recovery of the former landfill, and an education program that brings school groups to the site for field trips and virtual presentations. The park’s Studio and Gallery hosts rotating exhibitions connected to the site’s history and transformation.

How to Get Involved This Spring

Volunteer opportunities are posted on the Freshkills Park Alliance’s social media channels (Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter) and website. To sign up as a volunteer or docent, fill out the online volunteer application at freshkillspark.org/volunteer. School groups and environmental organizations can request customized volunteer opportunities directly through the education program page.

Corporate volunteer programs are also available — organizations interested in team volunteer days can contact the Alliance at info@freshkillspark.org.

What You Need to Know

• Freshkills Park is a 2,200-acre park-in-progress on Staten Island’s west shore, built on the former Fresh Kills landfill (closed 2001). When complete, it will be one of NYC’s largest parks.
• The Freshkills Park Alliance is the nonprofit partner managing programming, stewardship, and volunteer engagement.
• The Docent Program trains volunteers (no experience required) to lead stewardship events including invasive plant removals and trail projects. Volunteer dates run March–November.
• Spring volunteer events include projects at Schmul Park, the New Springville Greenway, and 2240 Richmond Avenue.
• To volunteer, visit freshkillspark.org/volunteer or follow @freshkillspark on Instagram and Facebook for event announcements.
• Corporate and school group volunteer days are available — contact info@freshkillspark.org.

Source: Freshkills Park Alliance volunteer page (primary).