Scenery along a superfund site? NYC’s neglected waterways are getting glow ups

As part of New York City’s waterfront master plan, industrial-damaged waterways are being transformed into leisure space.

At Malt Drive Park, a new waterfront public space on the southern edge of the NYC neighborhood Long Island City, visitors can walk along a meandering pathway with a mostly unobstructed view of the mouth of Newtown Creek. It’s lined by low tufty grasses and shrubs, with the occasional bald cypress tree offering shade for stone-slab benches. There’s a wide, open play lawn and jungle gym for kids, plus wood picnic tables and an enclosed dog run further into the site. The park is part of Malt Drive, a new mixed-use development by TF Cornerstone that encompasses 575 apartments spread across two towers.