The Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal from the families of victims from the September 11, 2001 attacks. According to the AP, the families claim that NYC "must provide a proper burial for material taken from the World Trade Center site because it could contain the ashes of victims," but "Lower federal courts had dismissed the families' lawsuit against the city, saying it acted responsibly in moving 1.6 million tons of materials from the site in Lower Manhattan to a landfill on Staten Island and then sifting through the material for human remains." more ›

After being promised last year that the Brookfield Landfill would be cleaned, it looks like Staten Islanders are getting what they want. Mayor Bloomberg and Staten Island Borough President James P. Molinaro broke ground yesterday on the project to remediate the Brookfield Avenue Landfill. Bloomberg announced at the site, "Today, we take a giant step forward in writing a new, greener chapter, by beginning the process of turning this site into a new park for the community to enjoy." more ›

With 300,000 cubic yards of sludge being carted from the recently designated Gowanus Superfund site, a project manager for the effort has an admittedly "out there" idea. Through the process of vitrification he wants to pack and heat the waste, until it's transformed into big glass cubes. "You could construct an aquarium," Christos Tsiamis told the News, adding that "It creates an absolutely safe byproduct," so the fish tanks won't stink. Maybe a Mac store could go in one of them? more ›

Starting next month, the NYC Parks Department will be leading free 90 minute tours of Freshkills Park on Staten Island, which was once a landfill so gigantic that it was rumored to be visible from space (not true, apparently). The 2,200 acre site is being transformed into a park almost three times the size of Central Park, and will be opened in phases over the course of the next quarter century, with development over the next decade focusing more on "creating early interventions and public access at North and South Park than at East and West Park, which are still undergoing landfill capping procedures," according to the Parks Department. Here's a taste of what's to come: more ›

History nerds, rejoice. The Downtown Express has a neat little article on a recent finding in the Battery Park City landfill recently. Construction workers there uncovered a historic concrete bulkhead, which is actually on the State Register of Historic Places (this wasn't the first time a part of the wall has been exposed). It was put in place over 100 years ago when Civil War Gen. George McClellan launched the project "because silt and refuse was building up along the Hudson River shoreline and rotting piers, preventing ships from landing." Historic archeologist Joe Sopko allowed the workers to remove part of the slab, noting: “It’s just concrete." However, he points out it was one of the first examples of a large amount of concrete used in a construction project. [via Curbed] more ›

January 15th is either the best or the worst day to fly. Last year on this day, the United Airways Flight 1549 flight landed in the Hudson River (no serious injuries thanks to the smooth flying of Sully!)... and we just got word that an aircraft has crash landed in a Staten Island Landfill. Word is that the "Piper Cub" landed safely, and the pilot is now outside of the aircraft and walking it off. According to reports coming over the newswire, the emergency landing was due to a mechanical failure, and the police are stating there is "debris or the banner the plane was towing down on the N/B Shore Expwy." more ›

In a U.S. Court of Appeals hearing, families of victims killed during the September 11, 2001 attacks at the World Trade Center argued that 1.6 million tons of debris at Staten Island landfill be removed, sifted and then prepared for proper burial because it may contain victims' remains. In the other corner is the city, which argued, "These ashes are undifferentiated dirt." more ›

Those recyclables you're throwing away in the designated recycling bins at city parks... well, they're probably just going straight to the landfills. The NY Post reports that during their investigation they found that "not only are routine recyclables like bottles, cans and paper being sent to landfills, but so is other waste that is supposed to be trashed separately, such as animal carcasses, medical waste and bins of used kitchen oil." Who goes to the park to throw away their animal carcasses? Those are for the East River! more ›

Raj Kottamasu, coordinator of the Freshkills Park Project, is driving towards reconditioning the 2,200-acre Fresh Kills Landfill into a fruitful and attractive city destination three times the size of Central Park. Kottamasu and his team strive to "get people into thinking about this site as a park" and less like a "symbol of environmental neglect and wastefulness." With construction already begun, Kottamasu hopes to open 70 of the 2,200 acres within the next two to three years. He adds, "There are a lot of landfills that have been converted into parks, historically and contemporarily. Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Queens was the Corona ash dumps, which were referenced in 'The Great Gatsby.'" more ›

Police are still searching for Eridania Rodriguez, who was last seen at a Financial District office building on Tuesday night, but they have also brought the search to a Pennsylvania landfill. According to the Daily News, Rodriguez was part of 2 Rector Street's cleaning crew and her cleaning cart was left abandoned on the 8th floor. Newsday reports that detectives are sifting the landfill where garbage from 2 Rector Street was taken: "Among those questioned about her disappearance are a DOT worker who had worked in the same building and appeared to be following her and a freight elevator operator with an arrest record, police sources said." Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said, "We have reason to fear the worst. That's the theory that we are operating on, that something untoward happened to Mrs. Rodriguez inside the building." The police, who are also searching the building for a third time, are asking for the public's help: Call 1-800-577-TIPS or send a text message to "CRIMES," (274637), then enter "TIP577". more ›

The massive Pabst Blue Ribbon bottle in New Jersey, a deteriorating symbol of Hipstericana, has been moved to a junkyard just off the New Jersey Turnpike. The 60-foot-high bottle was chopped into about six pieces after standing tall and proud for over 70 years atop the brewery off the Garden State Parkway. While the "managers at recycling company, which demolished the defunct Pabst brewery in Newark's West Ward for redevelopment, didn't want to talk about the dislocated landmark they now own," there are plenty of folks making offers on the pieces. One man, a New Jersey Institute of Technology professor and curator of the school's gallery, offered $500 for the cap and planned on somehow making it into a dining room table! However, it was estimated it would cost around $150K to move and install elsewhere—of course, that quote may have also been based on the amount they estimate they'll get from the steel and copper scrap metal. Meanwhile, isn't there some giant John Deere trucker hat statue out there we can put this thing next to? more ›