Fresh Kills and its tributaries are part of the largest tidal wetland ecosystem in the region . Its creeks and wetlands have been designated a Significant Coastal Fish and Wildlife Habitat by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation . Opened along Fresh Kills as a " temporary landfill " in 1947 , the Fresh Kills Landfill was a repository of trash for the city of New York . The landfill , once the world 's largest man-made structure , was closed in 2001 , but was briefly re-opened for the debris from Ground Zero following the September 11 attacks in 2001 . It is being converted into a park . Plans for the park include a bird-nesting island , public roads , boardwalks , soccer and baseball fields , bridle paths , and a 5,000-seat stadium . Today , freshwater and tidal wetlands , fields , birch thickets , and a coastal oak maritime forest , as well as areas dominated by non-native plant species , are all within the boundaries of Fresh Kills . During the Paleozoic Era , the tectonic plate containing the continent of Laurentia and the plate containing the continent of Gondwanaland were converging , the Iapetus Ocean that separated the two continents gradually closed , and the resulting collision between the plates formed the Appalachian Mountains . During the early stages of this mountain building known as the Taconic orogeny , a piece of ocean crust from the Iapetus Ocean broke off and became incorporated into the collision zone and now forms the oldest bedrock strata of Staten Island , the serpentinite
September 11 attacks
September 11 attacks
Staten Island