The opportunity: In 2022, New York voters approved a $4.2 billion Environmental Bond Act, with especially strong support from New York City. Staten Island properties listed in the State’s Open Space Conservation Plan can now compete for this money, but so can every other borough and county in the state.

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Out role: For decades, Protectors of Pine Oak Woods, led by founding member Ellen O’Flaherty Pratt, has nominated Staten Island parcels for that plan, working with the State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and State Parks. The City also buys land through its Parks Department and Department of Environmental Protection, whose Bluebelt drainage projects are especially notable.

Why it’s urgent: Staten Island’s population is growing, and land prices keep rising. Without action, valuable woods, wetlands and shorelines will be lost to development.

 

Why It Matters: These lands absorb floodwater, store carbon, cool neighborhoods and shelter wildlife, including Bald Eagles, Atlantic Coast leopard Frogs, and Monarch butterflies. We’re optimistic that many, perhaps all, of these properties can be protected with Bond Act funding and the support of Staten Island’s elected officials.

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Expanding existing parks

• Arden Heights Woods: Three parcels totaling 32 acres sit between the City and State sections of this preserve. It is the largest wetland the DEC has classified in the New York metro area, and its kettle ponds and streams provide natural flood control.

• North Bloomingdale Wetlands Corridor: Seven wetland and stream parcels, over 11 acres, next to the 138-acre Bloomingdale Park.

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Protecting the shoreline from storms

• Tennyson Drive: A 4-acre buffer next to Seaside Wildlife Nature Park, where two residents drowned during Hurricane Sandy.

• Tappen’s Creek Bluebelt: Eight parcels, 53+ acres, along the creek that flows out of Clay Pit Ponds State Park Preserve. They could expand the park or become a new Sharrotts Shorelands preserve.

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Rare wetlands

• Outerbridge Ponds (Page Avenue Woodlands): About 22 acres of pine-oak barrens and sedge ponds, ecosystems rare in NYC, surrounded by heavy commercial development.

 

Underserved North Shore neighborhoods

About 35–40% of Bond Act funds are reserved for state-designated environmental justice neighborhoods. On Staten Island, these are only on the North Shore.

• Serpentine Ridge: Wooded, steep hillside parcels around the Serpentine Art and Nature Commons.

• Glossy Ibis Waterfront Park: A 1.9-acre peninsula on the Kill van Kull near Housman Street and Richmond Terrace.

 

Land the government already owns

Transferring unused public land to parks can protect many acres at little or no cost.

• A 6-acre wooded lot on Serpentine Ridge owned by the City’s Department of Citywide Administrative Services.

• Screech Owl Woodlands: 17.6 unused acres owned by the Sanitation Department, near Route 440, Arden Avenue and Arthur Kill Road.

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