Gateway National Recreation Area, the sprawling waterfront park that stretches from Jamaica Bay to Sandy Hook in New Jersey and is home to several threatened species, is in the worst condition of any national park surveyed by an advocacy group, according to a report to be released today.
Gateway, which many see as they fly into Kennedy International Airport, has more than 330 species of birds, including peregrine falcons, and 71 species of butterflies living in salt marshes, on sandy beaches and in maritime and deciduous forests. Three animal species that live there — piping plovers, terns and diamondback terrapins — are on threatened or endangered species lists.
The report by the private, nonprofit National Parks Conservation Association gave Gateway marks of 53 out of 100 for its natural resources and 46 out of 100 for its cultural resources. The ratings are the lowest among the 28 national parks and other federally protected areas the group has surveyed. Average scores are 69 for natural areas and 59 for cultural resources, the group said.
The study revealed untreated sludge, industrial waste, toxic runoff and noise pollution from the airport, along with chronic staff and money shortfalls as the reasons for Gateway’s ills.
“There are no resource management plans for cultural resources, existing plans do not adequately address natural resource concerns, and interpretive plans are outdated,” the report says. “Most importantly, the park needs an updated general management plan and resource stewardship plan to guide natural and cultural resource management.”
The National Parks Service, which manages Gateway, admitted that the area had not been given as much attention as other areas. Barry T. Sullivan, its general superintendent, said, “We are not surprised that park resources in the most heavily populated city in our nation do not measure up to those of Yellowstone or to parks in Alaska.”
The 26,658-acre park was created in 1972, about the same time several other tracts of land near urban areas were also set aside by the federal government and given a new designation, “national recreation area.” Others include Golden Gate National Recreation Area in San Francisco.
In addition to its natural areas, Gateway is also home to the nation’s oldest continuing operating lighthouse, Sandy Hook Lighthouse, built in 1764; Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn, which was the city’s first municipal airfield; Fort Wadsworth on Staten Island, which predates the Revolutionary War; and Rockaway Point in Queens.
Much of Gateway was used by the military before it became parkland, and many of its 400 buildings are on the verge of collapse, according to the National Parks Conservation Association.
Alexander Brash, northeast regional director of the association, said Gateway’s shortcomings were shared by other national parks that had not been given enough money.
Mr. Brash said visitors did not expect Gateway to be on a par with Yosemite or Yellowstone National Parks, given that Gateway receives runoff from a city of eight million people.
He added that the association did not expect it to be pristine, but that it should have a unified and compelling theme and facilities as good as those in Yellowstone or Central Park.
