Monday, June 16, 2025
In an effort to revitalize Franklin Square, the Franklin Square Chamber of Commerce hosted a community cleanup event in collaboration with the Town of Hempstead and the Town’s Quality of Life Task Force.
Around 30 volunteers—including residents, chamber members and town officials—met in a parking lot on the corner of Franklin Avenue and Hempstead Turnpike on April 27 at 9 a.m. As the group grabbed coffee and bagels, provided by the chamber of commerce, they began separating themselves into small groups and strategizing which direction they would travel to begin the cleanup.
Santino Sarrica, the president of the chamber of commerce, alongside his wife, Jill Sarrica, and his two children, Viviana Lina and Marco Sarrica, picked up trash along the sidewalks of the Hempstead Turnpike.
“We thought this would be a great event to help clean up the community and just show the community that we’re trying,” Santino said.
The Sunday morning event was organized in response to concerns expressed by Franklin Square business owners on social media platforms, Santino said, adding that trash was piling up on the streets in front of their businesses.
The chamber of commerce began planning the event in February, Santino continued. Leaders from the chamber of commerce reached out to Town Councilman Thomas Muscarella to ask for help and resources.
Muscarella, who represents the Town’s Second District and includes Franklin Square, said the town relies on feedback from residents to identify areas in the community that need cleaning.
“It’s a collaborative effort between the civics, the homeowners and the Town of Hempstead,” Muscarella said. “It’s a quality of life thing.”
He said community members in Franklin Square are hardworking and competent at keeping their personal property clean. But, he continued, garbage pileup on the streets that constantly blows around the downtown district takes a bit more manpower to clean up. That’s where the Town comes in.
The task force used weed trimmers to cut through overgrown patches of grass on sidewalks and a street sweeper truck to clean up the stretch of Hempstead Turnpike the Franklin Square businesses reside on.
According to Muscarella, any communities in the Town can reach out to the offices and request help cleaning up their business districts.
Domenic Ciaccio, secretary of the chamber of commerce, and Joseph Romeo, one of its vice presidents, joined the effort on Sunday morning and led a group of volunteers south on Franklin Avenue.
According to Ciaccio, the event was an opportunity to bring the community together and help prove to small businesses that the chamber of commerce is listening to feedback and trying its best to address it.
Romeo agreed, pointing out how many different organizations came together to make the event possible. “It just shows how we can come together for the greater good,” he said.
Ciaccio said he and other members of the chamber of commerce supported Santino’s vision for the community cleanup, assisting with his communication with the Town, and putting announcements and flyers together to advertise the event.
He added that Sanitary District 6, the garbage collection office that services Franklin Square, supplied garbage bags and gloves to assist volunteers in their effort.
“This is just the first step,” Ciaccio said. “It’s a good time for people to come help.”
Aside from the street cleanup, the chamber of commerce plans to work with other civic associations and coalitions in Franklin Square—such as the Morton Civic Association spearheaded by Romeo and the Franklin Square Forward Committee—on more initiatives to beautify the town.
“I think they’re just trying to make the community prettier,” Jill Sarrica said. “We’re just trying to start from the ground up.”
Viviana Lina Sarrica, 10, who attends Polk Street Elementary School in the Franklin Square School District, said this is the first event her father organized that she volunteered for. And, she said, she hopes to attend more.
Angelo Anselmo, a high school senior who will be graduating in June, said his mother, Angela Anselmo, saw the volunteer opportunity and encouraged him to join the cleanup effort to acquire volunteer hours for school. He said volunteering could also help him get scholarships, so he thought, “Why not?”
By the end of the event, he said he was glad he joined the effort because it ended up being a great experience. “It feels really good to help the people around me,” Angelo said. “I’m happy I could get out here.”
Many volunteers share membership across Franklin Square civic associations and community organizations, giving residents numerous opportunities to get involved in the future.
“I hope to show businesses that we care about the community,” Santino said. “We want them to have pride in Franklin Square.”
