How ‘Mt. Trashmore’ was conquered: Key figures recall landfill fight as FreshKills Park nears open

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — What was once a sprawling heap of garbage, an overwhelming expanse of waste emitting unbearable stench across Staten Island, has now transformed into a verdant gem of nature along the borough’s West Shore: Freshkills Park.

That monumental shift from the city’s dumping ground to the start of a process that will make it the largest park in the five boroughs, however, was far from an inevitability. From the time the Fresh Kills landfill first opened in the late 1940s to its eventual closure at the turn of the century, a concerted push to cease operations at the dump spanned mayoral administrations, term limits and generations.