Cuomo Proposes State Park On Jamaica Bay In East New York

EAST NEW YORK, BROOKLYN — Two enormous landfills in East New York could become a waterfront state park if Governor Andrew Cuomo gets his way.

Cuomo is working with the National Park Service to develop a 407-acre state park along the shore of Jamaica Bay, the governor announced in his State of the State address this week.

"We are committed to ensuring every New Yorker can access the recreational, health and community benefits of open space," Governor Cuomo said.

“This park will open new doors to wellness for New Yorkers who need it most."

The proposed park would have hiking trails, a bridge that crossed over the bay, an amphitheater, concession stands and facilities for kayaking and fishing, the governor said.

New York State has already signed preliminary agreements with National Park Service and are hoping to unveil Phase One of the project — which would cost $15 million and open up 3.5 miles of waterfront and miles of paths — in 2019.

The two land parcels Cuomo hopes to refurbish were once the Pennsylvania Avenue Landfill and Fountain Avenue Landfill, which were both given to the National Park Service in 1974.

The sites underwent a $235 million remediation in 2002, during which the city’s Department of Environmental Protection capped the landfills, topped them with 1.2 million cubic yards of soil and planted more than 35,000 trees and prairie grass.

The landfills are now home to a new ecosystem with coastal meadows, wetlands, woodlands and local wildlife. If Cuomo is successful in his pursuit of a Jamaica Bay State Park, it will be the first time the public will have access to the land in the city’s history.

"For generations, the residents of central Brooklyn have lacked access to their waterfront and open spaces,” said Thomas F. Secunda, Chairman of the Jamaica Bay-Rockaway Parks Conservancy.

“Today's announcement marks a major milestone in the decades-long effort to turn these former landfills into a wonderful new park.”

Photos and renderings courtesy of the New York State Parks Department