News Release

The National Park Service and New York City Announce Path Forward on Construction of the Staten Island Coastal Storm Risk Management Project and Remediation Across Three Boroughs

Date: February 10, 2022
Contact: Daphne Yun, [phone]

NEW YORK— The National Park Service (NPS) and the City of New York have announced an agreement between the City and the NPS to facilitate a path forward for a critical coastal resiliency project on Staten Island and to clean up contaminated sites in Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island.

The Agreement in Principle (AIP) lays the framework for future settlement agreements between NPS and the City to accelerate the cleanup of a portion of the existing Superfund site at Great Kills Park and clean up other sites in Gateway National Recreation Area contaminated by historical fill. NPS will implement a City-funded remediation on the City-owned portion of the Great Kills Park Superfund site needed for the South Shore of Staten Island Coastal Storm Risk Management Project (SSSI CSRM), a critical coastal resiliency project being designed and constructed by the US Army Corps of Engineers.

“This agreement between NPS and the City will not only help protect Staten Islanders from future storms, but also enable the cleanup of Gateway’s contaminated sites,” said National Park Service Regional Director Gay Vietzke. “The remediation of Great Kills Park, Dead Horse Bay, and Spring Creek Park will address serious health and safety concerns, reopen visitor access, and improve the environment to benefit generations to come.”

“Staten Island residents will no longer have to live, work, and play near a contaminated superfund site and they will also be protected from the threat of rising tides and severe weather,” said New York City Mayor Eric Adams. “This is a double win for the New Yorkers who call Staten Island home.”  

“This agreement is a critical step to delivering needed flood protection to a low-lying community that saw more deaths after Hurricane Sandy than any other part of the city,” said New York City Deputy Mayor of Operations Meera Joshi. “We look forward to working with the National Park Service, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to deliver the long overdue East Shore of Staten Island Coastal Storm Risk Management Project.”  

About South Shore of Staten Island Coastal Storm Risk Management Project
SSSI is a $615 million flood protection system designed and constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) in partnership with the City and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYS DEC). The 5.3-mile project will run between Fort Wadsworth and Oakland Beach and north to Hylan Boulevard. This line of protection includes a 4.3-mile seawall with a public promenade, one mile of levees and floodwalls, a deployable feature at Hylan Boulevard, and more than 180 acres of excavated detention ponds. The project will protect coastal neighborhoods in Staten Island that suffered the worst damage from Hurricane Sandy.

About Gateway National Recreation Area A large diverse urban park spanning two states, Gateway combines recreational activities with natural beauty, wildlife preservation, military history and more. Visitors can hike, picnic, swim, sunbathe, bike, visit the oldest lighthouse in the nation, see an airplane collection and camp overnight, all in the New York metropolitan area. Gateway is one of the ten most visited national parks in the country. For information about Gateway's upcoming public programs, see the park's website at www.nps.gov/gate. Follow Gateway on social media - Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @GatewayNPS.