Fresh Kills is a neighborhood in the borough of Staten Island. This region is bounded by the communities of Travis, New Springville, and Arden Heights. This region was named and settled by the Dutch in the early 1600s, after the Dutch word kille, which means riverbed or water channel.

In 1947, Freshkills was commissioned by the city of New York’s Parks Commissioner Robert Moses to be a temporary landfill for to accommodate for a sudden influx in population of New York City after World War II.

However, it served as New York City’s landfill for over fifty years, until 2001 when it was finally closed down. Although the last barge of trash arrived on March 22nd, the landfill was used a medium to sort through about a third of the rubble from the 9/11 attacks.

Future plans for this community include the conversion of the land that was once the Fresh Kills landfill into a massive self-sustaining 2200 acre park. Because the site is so large, the park is being developed from the outside in so that people living in the surrounding communities will be able to enjoy the park’s benefits sooner.

Construction on the actual park began in 2008. The park will be developed in three separate phases and will include a September 11 memorial on the West Park at the end of the development process. The entire project is expected to be completed over the course of three decades. As of today, the first phase of development in the South Park is near completion.

Read on to learn more about:

The History of Fresh Kills

The Political Struggles

The Development and Future Prospects 

The Jewish Syrian Community which started in Gravesend Brooklyn is a rather recent community which has grown in size and unity since its major migration to the United States in the first half of the 20th century. This community has been deemed by some scholars to be the most cohesive Jewish community outside of Israel. This community has taken many steps to preserve its culture which can be broadly understood as a unique blend of Arabic and Jewish existence. How one becomes a member of this people and their way of life is no simple matter and we seek to understand exactly how one can attain “belonging” in a community so built on its distinctive past. By understanding this, we can see what allows this community to maintain its traditional values and cultural pastime in a completely different country and cultural context.

Morningside Heights is a neighborhood on the Upper West Side of the Borough of Manhattan in New York City. Bounded by Morningside Park on the east, Harlem on the north, and Riverside Park on the west, Morningside Heights is the area from 110^th Street to 125^th Street and Riverside Drive to Morningside Drive.

In addition, the neighborhood of Morningside Heights also contains many institutions such as colleges and hospital. Due to the abundance of colleges, the area is often known as the Academic Acropolis. Many academic institutions such as Barnard College, Manhattan College of Music, and more have established themselves in Morningside Heights; however, Columbia University is by far the most prominent institution in the area.

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History

Demographics

Community Groups

Institutional Conflicts

Gentrification

Media

Roosevelt Island is comfortably situated between the mainland of Manhattan and the borough of Queens. One of the smallest neighborhoods in the entire city, Roosevelt Island boasts its high levels of diversity, both racially and economically. One can use many methods of transportation to get to the Island, including subway, bus, car, and the famous Tramway. Although hidden by the tall skyscrapers and the waters of the East River, it is a quaint, humble community that is proud to be a part of one of the greatest cities in the world.

Developments/Changes

Media

Political Struggles