Amid the chaos of New York City, urban green spaces are more than just patches of greenery—they’re lifelines that connect us to nature and sustain our urban environments. These green havens play an important role in keeping our cities healthy, purifying air and water, protecting against floods and nurturing biodiversity. As urban areas grow and we witness more environmental challenges, it is vital to preserve and restore these spaces.

In August, the Columbia MPA in Environmental Science and Policy (MPA-ESP) cohort went on a field trip to two such green spaces—Shirley Chisholm State Park (in Brooklyn) and Pelham Bay Park (in the Bronx), as part of their Urban Ecology class taught by Matthew Palmer, a senior lecturer in the department of Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology. The field trip highlights the importance and impact of ecological restoration projects that often transform a land’s value and make it a welcoming space for neighborhood recreational activities.

Sitting 130 feet above sea level, Shirley Chisholm State Park in southeast Brooklyn offers incredible views of New York City, with glimpses of the Empire State Building, the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge and the New York Harbor at the Park’s highest point. The lesser-known fact, however, is that this vibrant park now buzzing with bikers and bird-watchers rests above former Pennsylvania and Fountain Avenue landfills.

Explaining the restoration process, John McLaughlin, managing director of the Office of Ecosystem Services, Green Infrastructure and Research for the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, shared how 407 acres of former landfills were transformed into vibrant green spaces. The process involved sealing the landfills with an impermeable plastic cap and a below-ground barrier, while a methane gas piping system was installed to manage off-gassing. They spread over 1.2 million cubic yards of clean soil—enough to fill nearly 100,000 dump trucks—across the site, and then planted 35,000 trees, shrubs and native grasses. This new ecosystem—consisting of coastal meadows, wetlands and woodlands—not only attracts local wildlife (including falcons) but also safeguards the land by preventing erosion.

Additionally, Leslie Wright, New York City regional director at New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, highlighted how the restored park plays a crucial role in fostering social connection, community engagement and biodiversity conservation. She emphasized how this transformation of a once-marginalized landscape is especially meaningful in the post-COVID era, providing a renewed space for people to reconnect with nature and each other.

The latter half of the field trip took us to Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx, where restoration efforts are in full swing. Here, the focus is on battling invasive species like Japanese knotweed, mugwort and porcelain berry. A mix of mowing, herbicide application and planting fast-growing woody plants strategies are used as part of a multi-year cut-and-spray cycle aimed at bringing back native species. However, restoring forest health on these old landfill sites is tough, particularly due to the poor soil and pests like the emerald ash borer, which has devastated many ash trees. Deer add to the challenge by destroying the understory and giving invasive species an added advantage. While exclosures have been built to protect restoration areas, deer continue to be a major obstacle. The students even spotted a few of them on the trip.

The decline in urban forest health doesn’t always just affect the park and the immediate neighborhood but often has ripple effects on the New York State watershed and water quality, since trees play a crucial role in filtration. Guiding all these efforts are ecological assessments conducted every 10 years, shaping reforestation, invasive species control and stormwater management strategies.

Our students, inspired by the restoration efforts at Shirley Chisholm State Park and Pelham Bay Park, are dedicated to advocating for the preservation and restoration of urban green spaces. These field experiences serve as an opportunity to deepen their dedication to building sustainable, resilient communities where ecological health and human well-being go hand in hand.