Council Member Joseph Borelli (R – South Shore) and Council Minority Leader Steve Matteo are asking the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation (NYC DPR) to re-evaluate the recent exclusion of mountain biking trails from the design of Fresh Kills Park.
The original drafts of the Fresh Kills Park master plan that were released to the public by NYC DPR in the spring of 2006 had included miles of trails specifically designated as mountain bikeways at the request of local community members and bicycling organizations. In current design drafts, this feature is conspicuously missing from Staten Island’s anchor park.
A number of Fresh Kills Park visioning meetings have occurred over the years, ostensibly to solicit community input and integrate it into the design of the park, but the community has never been notified of any change in the project design which would exclude the mountain biking trails that were part of the master plan.
“As the time of the official public opening of Fresh Kills Park approaches, it is imperative that the design is completed and approved by the community,” said Borelli. “I would like to see the return of the mountain biking accommodations as long as they can be safely implemented.”