Great Kills Park
| Great Kills Park | |
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| Type | Urban park |
| Location | Staten Island in New York City, New York, United States |
| Coordinates | 40°32′40″N 74°7′30″W / 40.54444°N 74.12500°WCoordinates: 40°32′40″N 74°7′30″W / 40.54444°N 74.12500°W |
| Area | 580 acres (230 ha) |
| Created | 1949 |
| Status | Open all year, part of park closed |
Great Kills Park in Great Kills, Staten Island is a part of the Staten Island unit of Gateway National Recreation Area. Part of the National Park System, it covers an area of approximately 580 acres (2.3 km2) of salt marsh, beach and woodlands stretching along two miles (3 km) of Staten Island's south shore.
In 1860 the businessman and pioneering naturalist John J. Crooke bought a part of the land and lived in a wooden house at the beach. In 1916 an erosion cut the narrow spit of land and Crooke's Point became an island to itself. In 1929 New York City bought Crooke's Point and adjacent land and started to build a public park. Due to the Great Depression the work was delayed and the park could not be opened to the public until 1949. In 1973 the park became a part of the Gateway National Recreation Area.
Great Kills Harbor, located within the park, is a man-made harbor that was created by joining Crooke's Island back to the mainland of Staten Island with dredge material. The park is frequented by various species of birds due to the diverse habitats within the park.
Half of the park area was used as landfill in the past, and in 2005, radium (226Ra), a radioactive material, was found in the sand in a depth of about 1–1.5 feet (30–40 cm). A part of this material has been removed; to the present, altogether twelve places with radioactive contamination have been found. Directly at the sources, a radiation level about 200 times higher than the natural background radiation has been measured. In August 2012 the decontamination of the park was scheduled to proceed. A section of the park is closed to the public.
The park's main entrance is at Hylan Boulevard and Buffalo Street. On Hylan Boulevard many MTA buses operate. The Staten Island Railway station Bay Terrace is near the main entrance. With a boat, the park can be reached via the Great Kills Harbor.
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Wikipedia