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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — A group of Staten Island kids recently offered a local hand to a group of city officials hoping to check on the health of one of the borough’s waterways.
Students and scouts from the Saint Clare School in Great Kills and Boy Scout Troop 25 joined officials with the Department of Environmental Protection in their annual count of juvenile eels at the Richmond Creek Bluebelt. “The yearly eel count at the Richmond Creek Bluebelt offers a wonderful chance for young New Yorkers to explore this intricate ecosystem that supports many species, and to understand the importance of keeping our waterways clean and healthy,” said Environmental Protection Commissioner Rohit Aggarwala. “I’m grateful to the Saint Clare School and the Boy Scouts for their ongoing commitment to environmental stewardship and their continued involvement in this unique program.
” Richmond Creek is part of more than 96 Bluebelts across Staten Island the city has built in the past 25 years to support the borough’s drainage infrastructure, provide open green space for residents, and habitats for wildlife. One such species is the American eel, which annually migrates through the Hudson River and New York Harbor to freshwater habitats, like the Richmond Creek Bluebelt where nearly 8,520 glass eels have been counted so far in 2025, according to the Department of Environmental Protection. The count can help researchers better understand the cleanliness of New York’s waterways, which according to the Department of Environmental Protection are healthier than at any point since the U.
S. Civil War. Staten Island’s Mid-Island is one of 16 sites in New York where volunteers and students use a 10-foot cone-shaped net specifically designed to catch the eels and then count and release them back into the water.
Typically, the monitoring period begins towards the end of January and runs through Mid-May, according to the Department of Environmental Protection. Most Popular Stories by Paul Liotta.
