Page 3
WINTER 2017
NATURAL RESOURCES PROTECTIVE ASSOCIATION
(continued next page)
We found sponge piling buffer, a
freezer door, a refrigerator insulated
side panel, Styrofoam and a traffic
cone with the top panel severed off.
The sports world contributed a golf
ball, a tennis ball and a deflated foot-
ball.
There was a considerable storm the
previous evening, and Tony found a
large hermit crab that got stranded
when the large whelk shell he was
residing in (carried) was thrown too
far up the sand.
The natural world was further repre-
sented by killdeer, a shorebird that
has its nest up the berm and then
uses alternative calling from different
strategic locations to confuse preda-
tors.
Thanks to Richie, Rob, Grace, Tony,
Ester, Mike, Howie, Chris, Dominic
and all who participated.
A local Boy Scout troop has con-
nected the trails from Conference
House to Mt. Loretto State Park.
The beach is interrupted by a few
storm water discharge jetties.
Page Avenue traverses the south-
ernmost portion of Staten Island and
in fact, southernmost New York
State.
The beach has fantastic
views of Lower NY Bay, Raritan Bay
and Bayshore New Jersey. The geo-
logic composition is glacial moraine,
the Wisconsin glacier deposited sig-
nificant rocks and minerals.
For the cleanup, we had folks move
up the beach to the Mt. Loretto prop-
erty and south to Surf Avenue.
There were several recreational ho-
tels there at the turn of the century,
where guests went sailing, shell fish-
ing and dined on the freshest sea-
food.
The cleanup yielded cigarette butts,
tampon applicators, plastic bottle
caps, snack packaging, beer bottles,
Styrofoam packing materials, a life
jacket, men's sweatpants, an 'Echo'
hooded sweatshirt, dock pieces,
rope, a striped bass hook and float,
Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts cups,
plastic sheeting, bed sheets, a pillow,
balloons, soda cans, a rusted auto oil
filter, a windshield wiper housing
from a 1950's automobile, juice pack-
aging, a baby car seat, carted lug-
gage, an umbrella and much more.
The birding was varied, everything
from a Great Blue Heron to a Sea-
side Sparrow. The insect life yielded
praying mantis, crickets and a single
Monarch Butterfly feasting on sea-
side goldenrod nectar.
Overall we removed over 300 lbs. of
debris and recycled an additional 6
lbs. of glass and metal.
Special thanks to Danny, Rich, John,
Chuck, Leslie, Mike, Nick and all who
helped.
CONFERENCE HOUSE/PAGE
AVE BEACH CLEANUP
By Jim Scarcella
In early October, under cloudy skies,
NRPA cleaned the beach at the site
of the Living Breakwaters/Governor's
Office of Storm Recovery, Page Ave-
nue beach in Tottenville. The site is
to become part of the Billion Oysters
Project, which will remove pollutants
from the water, dissipate wave ener-
gy and make the surrounding area
less susceptible to flooding.
Earlier this autumn, there were Bald
Eagles living nearby.
OAKWOOD BEACH CLEANUP
By Jim Scarcella
In autumn, NRPA returned to
Oakwood Beach, at the bottom of
Tarlton Avenue. The area is park-
land, with ownership split between
the Parks Dept. and the NYC Dept.
of Environmental Protection.
Many homes in the floodplain were
bought by NY State and the area is
undergoing a 'return to nature'. The
beach is beautiful, stretched be-
tween Cedar Grove and the northern
portion of the Gateway National
Recreation Area.
Some fishermen use what's left of
the outfall jetty for recreation, but
unfortunately there is a lot of illegal
dumping here.
There is a break in the guardrail to
go over the 30' wide, 15' high sand
berm. We used this path to access
the beach.
The floatable debris was varied and
plentiful. There were cigarette butts,
potables packaging, cellophane,
tampon applicators, snack packag-
ing, straws, single use plastic bags,
plastic bottles and balloons.
The boating/fishing world was repre-
sented by a portable boat toilet, a
non-slip outdoor shower mat, ropes
and a six tray oyster gardening
presentation, with square rope and
hoisting assembly. Esther and her
team found toys, quart oil contain-
ers, a yellow rumped warbler’s
feather and a mushroom growing
out of the sand. Christopher found a
truck tire on the beach, fortunately
there was no steel rim. We removed
a few shovels of sand and Tony
Rose and Mike helped Chris roll the
tire about 250' down the beach, then
up the 15 foot berm and down the
path to the guard rail.
All memberships
expire on
December 31,
so please renew
NOW
!
