Bio
A veteran public servant, Eloise Hirsh was asked in 2006 to implement the just-released master plan to turn Freshkills, at the time the largest landfill in the world, into a multi-use 2,200 acre park in the heart of Staten Island. Adrian Benepe, the then Parks Commissioner, recalled, “We needed a great creative thinker and someone who knew how to navigate the complicated landscape of city government and private fundraising. Eloise fit the bill perfectly.” Fourteen years later, Freshkills Park is home to thousands of native plants and scores of animal species and is equipped with open fields for recreation, greenways for biking and running, and access to the waterfront. As one colleague remarked, “This is the most complex public works project in the past 40 years and can be as game-changing for New York City as Central Park was. Eloise’s work will have an impact that spans generations.”
