Artificial turf, real damage

Pier 42 provides much needed recreational space during ESCR construction. But its artificial turf is shedding into the East River.

by Marcella Durand

For a too-brief moment, New York City discouraged the use of artificial turf near waterways. Its “Guidelines for NYC Parks” once included the following advice: “New synthetic turf or track surfacing is generally not recommended within or near the 100-year Zone VE, especially in areas adjacent to open ocean that are most vulnerable to high velocity wave action and storm surge … Use natural turf for passive and active recreation in the floodplain.”

​The new Pier 42 park facility doesn’t just sit in the floodplain, but—built on a former industrial pier—it literally juts out over the East River. It opened Nov. 30, 2022, with the usual ribbon-cutting ceremony. It includes basketball courts, an outdoor gym, picnic tables, tennis courts–and a large field of artificial turf.

We know that the brand of the artificial turf is All Sport XP 50/1.75 manufactured by Greenfields (https://greenfieldsusa.com/innovation/greenfields-xp/0), thanks to East River Park Action filing a Freedom of Information request to get that information. 

The Greenfields website states that this particular turf combines “slit film” with monofilament fibers. The field includes infill—small loose balls between the blades of turf. While we weren’t provided the brand name, it is likely Envirofill…”an acrylic-coated round sand infused with Microban antimicrobial product.”*

This turf and infill are advertised as long-wearing, but a couple of months after the field’s opening, the plastic greenery is already disintegrating into the East River. Along the concrete lip that lies between the double chain-link fences that separate the field from the river is turf debris. This includes infill beads, plastic green “blades” that have detached from the field and green scum. The blades look like bright green pine needles and wash out over and under the turf through drainage tubes spaced at six feet intervals along the length of the field. There are approximately 30 of these spillways. 

As one can see from the photos, this debris is washing directly into the East River. This is an estuary with tides that take its waters to New York Harbor and the Atlantic Ocean. 

Fish and Birds at Risk

This means our brand-new park (already nicknamed “Plastic Park”) with its artificial turf is directly contributing to plastic waste in oceans. This means birds such as cormorants, mergansers and gulls are most likely already ingesting those bright green bits and/or the residue it is shedding. This means the stomachs of fish in the East River also probably contain these bits. This means the people who continue to fish at East River Park, Pier 42 and Pier 36 and 35, and who eat the fish, will be exposed to that plastic debris as well. 

A few winters ago, a couple fishing for Atlantic Bluefish in the East River described to me how they were going to fry up their catch with a little flour for a delicious meal. And yesterday, I watched a red-breasted merganser, a rare but welcome migratory visitor to our area, dive into the estuary’s murky waters to feed. Its meal may very well include bits of plastic turf. 

Other recent bird visitors include Double-crested Cormorants, Brant, Canada Goose, American Black Ducks, Mallard Ducks and various species of Gulls, including Great Black-Backed, Herring and Ring-billed, who seem to enjoy eating whatever ocean life is churned up by the ferry at Corlears Hook. They are all now exposed to plastic pollution from Pier 42.

This leaching of the artificial turf into the waterways should be stopped.

People and Dogs at Risk

Is this field harmful? There is evidence artificial turf is not good for people (or pets), especially children. On Pier 42, children and adults use the field for sports, dog walking (and dogs rolling around on the “grass”), and play with small children who, as I saw yesterday, scoot and skateboard around on the turf. Studies on the harm of artificial turf to human health, and of the benefits of actual grass and soil versus it, are already many. Recently, J.C. Tretter, the association president of the NFL Players, called upon the NFL to immediately ban the use of slit film turf, saying that it led to “statistically higher in-game injury rates.” 

A 2022 review published in Environmental Challenges concludes that “While nearly every country acknowledges the potential health risks posed by heavy metals, microplastics, PAHs, and PFAS chemicals, very few have actually implemented artificial turf and crumb rubber infill regulations and/or established adequate surveillance measures to protect those regularly exposed to the fields.” 

In addition, artificial turf is an active contributor to rise in temperatures—see what the National Recreation and Park Association writes here on different studies establishing the steep temperature differences between artificial and natural turf. In Sustainability and Climate Change, researchers write how artificial grass creates an additional amount of energy absorbed by the atmosphere.

They add, “The annual nationwide cost savings to local governments by the substitution of artificial grass for natural grass is shown to be trivial.”

New York Remains Unaware

Boston banned artificial turf altogether last year, but New York City may unproudly count itself among the many who do not regulate artificial turf. Worse, New York City actively promotes its use, even in place of pre-existing natural turf. In the East Side Coastal Resiliency plan, artificial turf fields will predominate when East River Park is reconstructed. This can and should change.

Under barrage of near-constant budget cuts and (unconscionable) neglect, NYC Parks chooses what seems to them the easiest (in the short-term) construction that does not need potentially expensive maintenance and care. Grass needs soil and mowing; trees mean watering and care. Artificial lawn is just supposed to sit there, until it wears out and disappears—in the case of Pier 42, into the sea. But the rest of the world knows that artificial turf ultimately costs much more than it is worth—in eventual maintenance, in health impact, impact on the environment, contribution to urban heat and climate change. 

Protect the River and its residents

We advocate that a filter or dam be installed immediately along the concrete lip to prevent the ongoing leakage of plastic debris.

For the future, the use of artificial turf in public parks should be regulated. Artificial turf next to waterways and in floodplains be banned in NYC projects.

Further, we advocate halting any use of artificial turf in New York City parks.

We advocate the NYC Parks be better funded and staffed, and environmental oversight be provided going forward for the massively impactful East Side Coastal Resiliency project and continued construction on Pier 42. 

But more than anything, we advocate that our green spaces not cause active harm to humans and all living things on the planet. 

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Marcella Durand is a poet, birdwatcher, parent and long-time Lower East Side resident deeply concerned with the environmental impact of her native city’s policies.

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* The FOIL request did not include asking for the infill brand, but Envirofill is what matches the description on the Greenfields website. The composition of it stated above comes from the website of the infill manufacturer, The Motz Group.

Update April 2024: We are starting a legislative campaign to get artificial turf banned in the state–and/or the city. Please see our Actions Now! page for more information.

For research and a lot of resources on the damages caused by synthetic turf, see our Real or Unreal Grass page.