On the evening of May 20, the CSI Archives and Special Collections formally accepted the papers of Bradford M. Greene, a landscape architect and environmental activist on Staten Island for 60 years. Greene, who graduated from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 1942 and served in World War II as a member of U.S. Army Intelligence in the 12th Army Group Headquarters under General Omar Bradley, worked for 40 years with the internationally known landscape architecture and engineering firm of Clarke, Rapuano, and Halloran and in private practice on Staten Island. A Vice President for Planning at Clarke, Rapuano, and Halloran, Greene’s design work included highways such as the Garden State Parkway, the New England Thruway, and Mile Strip Road in Buffalo, New York as well as parks such as the Rose Garden restoration at the New York Botanical Garden. His many Staten Island projects include a series of gardens at the Staten Island Botanical Garden, the Gretta Moulton Gates at High Rock Park, the restoration of the grounds of the Alice Austen House, and the Seaside Nature Garden at Great Kills.
The scope and breadth of his work is testimony to his success both in the United States and abroad, where some of his design works include the United States exhibit in 1960 at the Rotterdam Floriade; the U.S. Military Cemetery in Margraten, Holland; and the Mokattam suburb of Cairo, Egypt. Much of his work involved college campuses, corporate headquarters, and oceanographic institutes in Massachusetts and Florida (Woods Hole Research Center and Harbor Branch). Some of his most important projects are the Lackawanna Office of the Bethlehem Steel Corporation, Saucon Valley Community Master Plan, and the Lehigh University Master Plan.
Greene has advocated for the preservation of Staten Island land for parks since 1964 when he was the proponent and the definer of the concept of the Staten Island Greenbelt which, at 2,800 acres, is one of the largest natural areas within the five boroughs. A man truly committed to Staten Island, Bradford Greene is the founder of the Staten Island Citizens Planning Committee as well as a member of several environmental and/or preservation groups, including the Greenbelt Conservancy, the Preservation Society of Staten Island, the Conference House Association, Protectors of Pine Oak Woods, the Staten Island Historical Society, and the Manor Civic Association, as well as being a former member on the advisory board of the Moravian Cemetery.
Greene was elected a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects (FASLA), recognition by his peers for outstanding accomplishments in landscape architecture, administrative leadership, knowledge, and service to the profession. He has served on several boards, including the Staten Island Institute of Arts and Sciences, Staten Island Citizens Planning Committee, the Fine Arts Federation, and the Municipal Arts Society. He served for eight years on the New York City Art Commission and was a trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art for six years. Throughout his career, Greene has received many distinctions and awards including the Staten Island Greenbelt Award, the Lynne R. Steinman Community Service Award, and the Federated Garden Clubs NYS Director’s Award.
