William T. Davis Wildlife Refuge
The William T. Davis Wildlife Refuge is an 814-acre wildlife area on Staten Island, named after local naturalist William T. Davis. It began when the Audubon Society and Davis helped start with 52 acres, and it has grown to its current size through added land over the years.
The refuge sits where Main and Springville Creeks meet, connected to Freshkills Creek and the Arthur Kill. Since 2010, a neighboring 223-acre part of Freshkills Park has been prepared to expand the refuge.
It’s one of New York City’s largest parks, ranking sixth out of about 1,700 parks, and it’s just 30 acres smaller than Central Park.
The area includes wide salt marshes along the creeks, with low marsh near the water and a larger high marsh area that floods at higher tides. The low marsh is dominated by saltmarsh cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora), while the high marsh has saltmeadow cordgrass (Spartina patens). Some marshes have been degraded by an invasive plant called common reed (Phragmites australis), especially in the high marsh where soils stay saturated but aren’t regularly flooded.
Beyond the marshes, there are forested uplands, a swamp forest, and small spring-fed ponds. In some parts along Travis Avenue, another invasive plant, Japanese knotweed, is common.
Freshwater New Springville Creek runs through the refuge, but much of it is buried underground in pipes and not visible.
In the eastern part of the refuge, there was a burial site for six people who were murdered and dismembered by Thomas "Tommy Karate" Pitera, an associate of the Bonanno crime family, who was sentenced to life in prison in 1992.
Nearby rock formations known as the Palisades Sill appear along the coast and poke above ground in a small swamp off Travis Avenue.
Coordinates: 40.59500°N, 74.17444°W.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 04:41 (CET).