In 1959, a New York Times editorial entitled "Requiem for the Meadows" was only saying what most people thought about this reviled land of burning garbage dumps, of polluted canals, of smokestacked factories, and impenetrable reeds. The Meadowlands was the nation's eyesore, the blight separating New York and America. The Meadowlands cried out to be developed. —Robert Sullivan, The Meadowlands: Wilderness Adventures at the Edge of a City In August I mentioned casually at a Me...