Battling to keep the park clean

After noticing a significant amount of debris along the shoreline of Hook Creek, which flows through North Woodmere Park, Teri Schure said the waste was a problem prior to Hurricane Sandy and has only gotten worse.

The North Woodmere resident said she’s noticed various debris, from old tires to bottles. “The debris accumulation is an eyesore, as well as an environmental problem,” Schure said.

North Woodmere Park employee Michael Salvoni said he cleans the area several times a day. “I help around the park; cut the grass and keep it clean,” he said. “I haven’t heard any complaints.”

Joe Tobias, a South Valley Stream resident, said he visits North Woodmere Park daily to fish. He said he’s witnessed park employees cleaning up the area. “One day it’s clean, one day it’s not,” he said about the park. “A lot of the debris wasn’t there earlier in the summer and was caught in the marsh. [Hurricane Sandy] brought debris from people’s backyards into the water.”

Schure said Hook Creek is downstream from Valley Stream. “The water flow no doubt picks up a lot of debris along the way, including the area which abuts the New York City boundary line,” she said. “So whatever the cleanup, additional debris will no doubt flow to the area in the future. But that’s no reason to avoid maintenance and clean up of the area, so as to minimize the existence of debris.”

Robin Cristo, a 14-year North Woodmere resident, said she walks to the park daily and, like Schure, noticed debris along the shoreline prior to Hurricane Sandy. “It’s really terrible; it’s a beautiful park and it should be kept up better,” she said. “How difficult would it be to remove it?”

Cristo said though other parts of North Woodmere Park, such as the tennis courts and bathrooms are well kept, little attention is paid to the shoreline. “I don’t know what they’re not seeing,” she said. “I hope they clean it up and keep it clean and safe.”

Michael Martino, spokesman for the Nassau County Department of Public Works, said the Parks Department is responsible for the clean up of North Woodmere Park. “It is cleaned daily by the parks maintenance staff down in North Woodmere,” he said. “Everything is picked up in four yard dumpsters.”

Park Manager Andrea Seifert said garbage washes ashore daily. “Maintenance crews clean as much as they can each day,” she said. “It’s an every hour occurrence.”

Seifert said the maintenance crew at North Woodmere Park is also responsible for cleaning Inwood Park and the Five Towns Community Center in Lawrence. “We try to do the best we can and we try to maintain the park seven days a week,” she said.