Office of Borough President James P. Molinaro
Staten Island, New York
B.P. Molinaro urges Islanders to tell Parks Dept. at next week’s hearing: open the landfill roads now!
“After 50 years, we can finally reclaim Fresh Kills Park’s east-west corridor”
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – Borough President James P. Molinaro today strongly urged Staten Islanders to attend next week’s public hearing on the Fresh Kills Park project and support the opening of the landfill roads. The hearing will be held on Wednesday, March 25th, from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at P.S. 58, 77 Marsh Avenue (behind the Staten Island Mall) in New Springville.
“Following last week’s release of the final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), the Parks Department, as directed by the State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), must now perform a supplemental EIS (SEIS) for the landfill roads,” said Molinaro. “Under a proposal from my office, motorists would enter Fresh Kills Park from three distinct points along Richmond Avenue, opposite the Mall.
“While I remain frustrated at the length of time it is taking to get this project on the drawing board, these are the cards that are being dealt to us, and all Staten Islanders have to once again band together and demand that the Parks Department ‘Open The Landfill Roads Now!,’” Molinaro added.
The purpose of the hearing is to learn from the public what should and should not be included in the SEIS investigation. According to the Parks Department, an SEIS focusing on the proposed East Park roads must be prepared for the purpose of providing a targeted and detailed analysis, as well as an examination of alternatives. Since these segments of the proposed roads require approvals from state and federal agencies, it is intended that the SEIS address the environmental issues and concerns of these agencies through a coordinated environmental review under the direction of the Parks Department.
Molinaro concluded, “I want to put the DEC and other agencies on notice that if there is anything being investigated that has nothing to do with the landfill roads, I will be adamantly opposed to such issues being included in the SEIS. Staten Islanders didn’t create the master plan for Fresh Kills that in reality has separated and segmented 3,000 acres from the people and its highways for 50 years. And I’ll fight till the end to right this wrong so that we can reclaim this east-west corridor to the West Shore Expressway.”
March 23, 2009