The name Fresh Kills refers to its location along the banks of the Fresh Kills estuary in western Staten Island.
Opened in 1948, it became became one of the largest refuse heaps in human history. It also achieved the status as the highest man-made hill directly on the East Coast of the United States. Under local pressure and with support of the US Environmental Protection Agency the landfill site was slated to close on March 22, 2001. After the World Trade Center collapse, the landfill was temporarily reopened in to receive and process most of the debris from the destruction. Most of the debris was later removed.
Starting in 2003, the site was to be transformed into reclaimed wetlands, recreational facilities and landscaped public parkland, the largest expansion of the New York City parks since the development of the Bronx chain of parks in the 1890s.