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Gateway Gets Poor Grade From Conservation Group The National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) yesterday released a report card that reveals Gateway National Recreation Area's natural and cultural resources are in poor condition. While a collaborative public design competition moves forward to define a new vision for the park, the report card reveals that prior historical uses and urban pressures have negatively impacted Gateway's resources for decades. Despite some inspiring elements such as Sandy Hook, Jamaica Bay's Wildlife Refuge, and the remnant maritime forest at Fort Tilden, the park's surrounding waters are still polluted, visitor services are limited, and the loss of native species is widespread. A spokesperson for Representative Anthony Weiner, whose Brooklyn/ Queens district includes much of Gateway, said the congressman had not yet examined the report, therefore he was unable to comment before the Courier went to press. According to NPCA's Center for State of the Parks report, Gateway's natural resources score just 53 out of a possible 100, the worst rating of 27 other national parks assessed to date. The poor conditions largely stem from historic land uses prior to Gateway's establishment as a park, the ongoing pollution of the park's surrounding waters, and a lack of adequate funding and staffing to protect the park. For example, the construction of JFK airport, the dredging for a port never built, and hundreds of other development projects around the shores of Jamaica Bay have resulted in the loss of thousands of acres of marshland. In addition, the bay's edges have been hardened with concrete, cut off from public access, and littered with everything from coffee cups to cars. The report indicates that waters surrounding the park, from Sandy Hook to Rockaway, are still inundated with treated and untreated sewage, floating trash, industrial waste, and toxic sediments. Many of the buildings, structures, and extensive paved areas that remain from its historical uses are now abandoned. They have neither been restored for historical in-terpretation, nor removed and replaced with either a natural landscape or recreational facilities. As a result, the historical natural habitats that disappeared long ago, have never been restored or creatively re-used for the benefit of the region's residents and visitors. To view a copy of the full report, visit: http://www.npca.org/stateofthe-parks.
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