Great Kills Park occupies about 580 acres on Staten Island’s south shore, with salt marsh, beach, woodland, and about two miles of shoreline around Great Kills Harbor. Once known as Marine Park, the area’s modern history began when John J. Crooke bought land there in 1860. New York City acquired Crooke’s Point and nearby land in 1929 for a large public park, but the Great Depression and World War II delayed its opening until 1949. The landscape was heavily reworked in the 1940s, and the park later joined Gateway National Recreation Area in 1973. Alongside recreation and notable bird habitat, it also bears a legacy of toxic and radioactive contamination under long-term cleanup.

Photo: Wikipedia · Public domain

Photo: Wikipedia · Public domain