PLEASANT PLAINS — A plot of land officials say helps protect a Staten Island bluebelt was donated to the city on Thursday.
The Goldhirsch family, which owned the 2.5 acre piece of land adjacent to the Korean War Veterans Expressway and West Shore Expressway interchange, donated the land to the Department of Environmental Protection.
The DEP said it provides a wooded buffer to land adjacent to the Mill Creek Bluebelt, which helps protect the quality of water that eventually drains into the Arthur Kill.
“We are very grateful to the Goldhirsch family for this generous donation that will help to protect the Mill Creek Bluebelt and New York City’s natural environment,” DEP Commissioner Emily Lloyd said in a statement.
“Bluebelts help to reduce flooding, beautify communities and raise property values.”
The land was owned by the late Henry and Fred Goldhirsh and their surviving sister Getrude, who donated it to the city with Henry Goldhirsh' wife Majorie and daughter Jessica.
"Donating this land to the bluebelt is not only selfless, but important for the environment and for our water drainage system," Borough President James Oddo said in a statement.
"As an island, we have many vulnerabilities and the bluebelt helps to relieve some of that burden.”
The bluebelt project restores or maintains wetlands in areas around Staten Island, which in turn help curb flooding and improve water quality. Stormwater from the streets flow into the bluebelt, which naturally holds and filters the water before it goes into the Arthur Kill.
The city first started to acquire land for the Mill Creek Bluebelt in 1998 and, prior to the donation, was 52 acres large and received stormwater from a nearly 1,114 acres watershed, the DEP said.
The Goldhirsch's previously donated other land in the borough to the Parks Department. The DEP marked their latest donation with a stone plaque at the site.
