Page 3
Fall 2015
NATURAL RESOURCES PROTECTIVE ASSOCIATION
Corporal Allan F. Kivlehan Park
By Maxine Wilde
Located in New Dorp Beach in Stat-
en Island, Corporal Allan F. Kivlehan
Park sits at the heart of our neigh-
borhood – geographically and emo-
tionally. The Friends of Kivlehan
Park was formed to meet a long-
standing need, providing mainte-
nance of, and advocacy for, the park
and its adjacent beach. Since our
June 27th inaugural event, working
closely with Partnerships for Parks
and NYC Parks, Friends has orga-
nized several maintenance events at
which our volunteers have donated
117 work hours.
Where our beach is concerned, the
Friends participate in NYC DEP’s
floatable debris survey and have
joined NRPA. We have launched an
advocacy effort to have NYC Parks
put NDB on a regular cleaning
schedule.
Although not used for
swimming, NDB is a boat launch
beach, and is used by the communi-
ty for other forms of recreation. But
because of the litter and floatable
debris that accumulates with each
incoming tide, the beach experience
for our residents is neither as pleas-
ant nor as safe it could be.
Of late, NDB has received more
attention than in recent years, as the
community has joined together for
several cleaning events, with more to
come. NRPA hosted cleanings in
May and July, and have one planned
for October. The Borough Clean
Team, Yellow Boots and New Dorp
Beach Civic Association hosted an
event in July. In September, Friends
is hosting a cleaning
with Partnerships for
Parks, the Littoral Socie-
ty and Ocean Conserv-
ancy. Our community is
grateful for this support.
But the volume of debris
is too great to be re-
moved continually by
h a n d .
Ther e f or e ,
with the
support
of
N D B C A ,
Friends has begun our
advocacy effort. Regu-
lar cleaning will remove
significant amounts of
floatable debris from our
waters and give our resi-
dents a more beautiful,
safer beach.
Staten
Island has received in-
creased funding in the
2016 Fiscal Year city budget, a por-
tion of which is allocated
to local parks under the
Parks Equity Initiative.
In addition to NYC
Parks, we have ap-
pealed to our City Coun-
cilman to make use of a
portion of that funding to
cover the incremental
increase in costs associ-
ated with this additional
work. This effort is in its
infancy, and Friends is
actively seeking support
of like-minded civic or-
ganizations and environ-
(continued next page)
RICHMOND CREEK
By Jim Scarcella
In late August, with some time to
spare, I hiked the new trails around
Forest Hill Road to Richmond Ave-
nue. The day was pleasant, and the
trail along Richmond Ave. to Arthur
Kill Road was inviting. The traffic on
Richmond Ave was steady, but I
couldn't hear it, the path was like a
sound insulator.
At the bridge over Richmond Creek,
the mudflats were exposed and
Sanderlings were running to and fro,
pecking invisible invertebrates.
There were swarms of mosquito fish
at the water’s edge and the Snowy
Egrets were stabbing at them with
their pointed beaks. The tide was
outgoing, as evidenced by a way-
ward traffic cone obstruction. There
were also car parts, and the consum-
As for the cleanup, I want to thank
Richie, Nick, Danny, John, Grace,
John H, Chuck, Howard and those
who were there in spirit.
We retrieved over 200 lbs. of debris
including plastic bags, refreshment
containers, cigarette butts, sewage
treatment plant soap, tampon appli-
cators, driftwood, boating supplies,
fishing line, bottle caps and plastic
rings, tennis balls, milk cartons, wa-
ter containers, gloves, balloons and
more.
Swimming was immensely refresh-
ing, the water was clear and cool.
Please join us at our next cleanup,
our parks and beaches need your
help and support.
mental groups, and are encouraging
our community to respond to NYC
Parks’ Shoreline Parks Survey.
For more information about our ac-
tivities, please go to our Facebook
page, Friends of Kivlehan Park.
