# Fresh Kills landfill **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 6, 2004, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fresh-kills-landfill/267872 "2004-10-06T16:48:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fresh-kills-landfill/267872/1 "2004-10-06T16:48:26Z")
Was that the name of the place before 9/11 remains ended up there? ---
**Author:** ![racinchikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fresh-kills-landfill/267872/2 "2004-10-06T17:01:31Z")
Are you asking whether they changed the name of the landfill to “Fresh Kills” because of the WTC remains? It’s been Fresh Kills since the Dutch settled Staten Island. It’s named after Fresh Kill creek. ---
**Author:** ![Number](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/number/32/242_2.png) [@Number](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Number)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fresh-kills-landfill/267872/3 "2004-10-06T17:04:55Z")
The [landfill](http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Fresh%20Kills%20Landfill) has been called that since it opened in 1948. > [@](#): > > The name Fresh Kills refers to its location along the banks of the Fresh Kills estuary in western Staten Island. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fresh-kills-landfill/267872/4 "2004-10-06T17:05:47Z")
I doubt they would have named it “Fresh Kills Landfill” AFTER 9/11. More like “Homeland Patriot Memorial Park” or something. :barf: ---
**Author:** ![racinchikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fresh-kills-landfill/267872/5 "2004-10-06T17:10:38Z")
> [@Scarlett67](#): > > I doubt they would have named it “Fresh Kills Landfill” AFTER 9/11. More like “Homeland Patriot Memorial Park” or something. :barf: Seriously. There’ve been attempts to change the name of the town of Fishkill; I really can’t imagine anyone WANTING to call a landfill “Fresh Kills” because there were dead people in it. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fresh-kills-landfill/267872/6 "2004-10-06T17:16:41Z")
Wasn’t the Fresh Kills landfill actually closed before 9/11? I’m sure I read it was reopened to deal with the WTC wreckage. [This page](http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/html/fkl/ada/about/1_2_2.html) has a photo of the area with the Twin Towers visible in the distance. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Bag\_of\_Mostly\_Water](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bag_of_mostly_water/32/1029_2.png) [@Bag\_of\_Mostly\_Water](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bag_of_Mostly_Water)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fresh-kills-landfill/267872/7 "2004-10-06T17:17:48Z")
I was told that “kill” in this sense is a corruption of the Dutch word for Valley. Kill is used in other names in the NY area such as Catskill. I’m sure a Dutch doper can confirm. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fresh-kills-landfill/267872/8 "2004-10-06T17:20:20Z")
I meant to add: “Fresh Kills” is an alteration of the Dutch “Versche Kil” meaning “fresh creek”. [Cite](http://www.lowermanhattan.info/history/didyouknow/new_york_historical_society_47271.asp). ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fresh-kills-landfill/267872/9 "2004-10-06T17:22:44Z")
> [@Ex\_Chemist](#): > > I was told that “kill” in this sense is a corruption of the Dutch word for Valley. Kill is used in other names in the NY area such as Catskill. I’m sure a Dutch doper can confirm. I’m not Dutch, but my source (George R Stewart’s _Names on the Land_) says that _kill_ is Dutch for stream. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fresh-kills-landfill/267872/10 "2004-10-06T18:46:43Z")
Other _kills_ in New York include Catskill, Fishkill, Peekskill, West Kill, and my personal favorite, Basher Kill. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fresh-kills-landfill/267872/11 "2004-10-06T18:49:07Z")
Don’t forget the Arthur Kill and the Kill van Kull on Staten Island. “Flatbush”, I’m told, is from Dutch “t’vlack bos” , meaning “wooded plain”. Lots of old and unexpected Dutch names in New York-New Jersey area. ---
**Author:** ![brix11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c37758/32.png) [@brix11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brix11)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fresh-kills-landfill/267872/12 "2004-10-06T20:06:57Z")
Pennsylvania has the Schuyl_kill_ River too, which means “hidden stream”…which seems a bit redundant, now that I think about it. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fresh-kills-landfill/267872/13 "2004-10-06T20:21:56Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Lots of old and unexpected Dutch names in New York-New Jersey area. Yeah, who would imagine that there would be Dutch names in Nieuw Amsterdam? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fresh-kills-landfill/267872/14 "2004-10-06T21:19:15Z")
So why do machine translators not translate ‘kill’ from Dutch to English or translate ‘creek’, ‘stream’ or ‘river’ in English as ‘kill’? Is it archaic? ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fresh-kills-landfill/267872/15 "2004-10-06T22:24:08Z")
It is “kil” with only one l, as far as I know. Try that. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2004, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fresh-kills-landfill/267872/16 "2004-10-07T11:09:34Z")
> [@](#): > > Quote: > Originally Posted by CalMeacham > Lots of old and unexpected Dutch names in New York-New Jersey area. > > Yeah, who would imagine that there would be Dutch names in Nieuw Amsterdam? Yeah, but even knowing that the Dutch settled the area, would you have expected “Flatbush” to be derived from a Dutch original that has nothing to do with “flat” or “bush”? ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2004, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fresh-kills-landfill/267872/17 "2004-10-07T13:39:31Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > It is “kil” with only one l, as far as I know. Try that. Hmm, that translates a “chilly.” ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2004, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fresh-kills-landfill/267872/18 "2004-10-07T16:25:45Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Yeah, but even knowing that the Dutch settled the area, would you have expected “Flatbush” to be derived from a Dutch original that has nothing to do with “flat” or “bush”? Fair enough. But word/language geeks like me know that most nonsensical placenames are phonetically derived from foreign terms that made a lot more sense.