Fresh Kills: A History of Consuming and Discarding in New York City

by Martin V. Melosi

Fresh Kills―a monumental 2,200-acre site on Staten Island―was once the world’s largest landfill. From 1948 to 2001, it was the main receptacle for New York City’s refuse. After the 9/11 attacks, it reopened briefly to receive human remains and rubble from the destroyed Twin Towers, turning a notorious disposal site into a cemetery. Today, a mammoth reclamation project is transforming the landfill site, constructing an expansive park three times the size of Central Park.

Martin V. Melosi provides a comprehensive chronicle of Fresh Kills that offers new insights into the growth and development of New York City and the relationship among consumption, waste, and disposal. He traces the metamorphoses of the landscape, following it from salt marsh to landfill to cemetery and looks ahead to the future park. By centering the problem of solid-waste disposal, Melosi highlights the unwanted consequences of mass consumption. He presents the Fresh Kills space as an embodiment of massive waste, linking consumption to the continuing presence of its discards. Melosi also uses the landfill as a lens for understanding Staten Island’s history and its relationship with greater New York City. The first book on the history of the iconic landfill, Fresh Kills unites environmental, political, and cultural history to offer a reflection on material culture, consumer practices, and perceptions of value and worthlessness.

Genres: New York, History

800 pages, Paperback

Published January 28, 2020

About the author

Martin Victor Melosi is Hugh Roy and Lillie Cranz Cullen University Professor and the director of the Center for Public History at the University of Houston in Houston, Texas.

Reviews

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very long, very detailed history of the world's largest dump, closed twenty years ago. Huge and sprawling, like the dump itself. Interesting that it goes back so far, into the 19th century to document New York's efforts to handle its waste problems in pre-dump days. Among other things I learned that New York's current implementation of "curbside composting", which becomes mandatory in Manhattan this month, and which is not composting at all, but chemical digestion of organic matter to produce natural gas, was tried in New York over 100 years ago, and failed because of community objection to the noxious fumes produced.

I learned so much from this book, especially about the history of Staten Island, New York's "forgotten borough". A large part of the book is given over to 20th century Staten Island politics, which did not make for the most compelling read, in my opinion.