Hook Creek Park Salt Marsh Restoration in Queens

Hook Creek Park is a salt marsh, a coastal habitat that is regularly flooded and drained with salt water brought in from the tides. It is part of the Idlewild Park complex in southeastern Queens, NY.

The marsh ecosystem here had not been working properly for many years, as historic ditching and filling, high nutrient loads, debris, and increased inundation from rising sea levels significantly eroded and degraded the area. Hook Creek Park is also bound by infrastructure and human development, including John F. Kennedy International Airport, making it impossible for the marsh to adapt itself to these changes. 

In 2023, Audubon, NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, and the NYC Department of Environmental Protection collaborated on a major project to improve Hook Creek Park.

After the sediment placement, NYC Parks staff and volunteers planted 18,000 native grasses in the elevated areas. These grasses help stabilize the soil and, when tall enough, become critical nesting habitat for the declining Saltmarsh Sparrow.

The project ultimately improved the health of the marsh and provided improved ecosystem services to the local communities, such as flood mitigation and recreation opportunities.