It's unfortunate that this is such a fan boy piece. To correct the narrative presented about Fresh Kills Park in Staten Island in this article, I wrote a letter to the editor, which @nytimes didn't print. Here it is as thread https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/14/nyregion/freshkills-garbage-dump-nyc.html

To the Editor:

Far from being a recent introduction, Blackjack Oak has been present on Staten Island for centuries. The earliest botanical specimen was collected in 1884 in the herbarium of the New York Botanical Garden http://sweetgum.nybg.org/science/vh/specimen-details/?irn=1710385 2/n

For accuracy, it would have been easy to refer to the NY Flora Atlas, which shows 11 other records wherein Quercus marilandica was collected between 1893 and 1917 http://newyork.plantatlas.usf.edu/Plant.aspx?id=1499 3/n

Quercus marilandica is part of the native flora of Staten Island. It is not a new arrival. It is completely unrelated to climate change. So this sentence by Robert Sullivan is wrong... 4/n

"Our bioblitz team was said to be the first to spot a blackjack oak tree on Staten Island, formerly a resident exclusively of the south, now showing up in New York as New York warms." 5/n

Another problem was the choice to frame ecological processes in deceivingly simple terms. Nature doesn't come from "nothing" as James Corner put it. People pursue the study of ecology because it is so richly detailed and complex. 6/n

Finally, it would be nice to read an article that recognizes the rich nature that New York City does have. Glorify instead the quiet places that have always been wild. Such acres, that were never garbage dumps, hold orchids, sedges and rare moths. 7/n

Taking care of this nature requires government commitment of personnel and funding to preserve, manage and restore it. And with NYC Parks budget eviscerated, that is a tall order.
THE END