Members of the West Hempstead Community Support Association, West Hempstead residents, students, local officials and members of the Town of Hempstead’s Highway Department came together on Sunday to clean up the community.
Beginning at 9 a.m., volunteers gathered at the intersection of Hempstead Avenue and Eagle Avenue before cleaning their way up to Sycamore Street. The crew collected debris in front of local temples, schools and in the heart of West Hempstead’s business district.
“We’re very happy that the Town of Hempstead assisted us in cleaning up Hempstead Avenue,” Neal Rosenblatt, quality of life chair with the WHCSA, said. “They’ve got street sweepers and crews cleaning up debris in the street. We’re also removing all the illegal signs on the telephone poles.”
The WHCSA holds biannual community clean ups at nearby Hall’s Pond Park, but this is the first time the group has come together on Hempstead Avenue.
Maureen Mahoney, WHCSA president, said the Town of Hempstead owns Hempstead Avenue, which is why the group sought the town’s assistance to clean the road. “In the future we hope to get the county’s help to clean Woodfield Road,” she said. “And maybe the state’s assistance because all the roads need to be cleaned up.”
“Cleanups show that we’re doing what we say we do — which is helping the community,” Mahoney said. “A lot of people in the community have things to say about the roads not being cleaned, the streets and sidewalks not being clean. And this is a way we can do it on occasion.”
“We hope to do this on a regular basis,” Rosenblatt said. “But the most important thing is making the community aware and making sure residents take care of their community.”
