Thursday, October 1, 2026
The Nassau County Parks Department and County Executive Bruce Blakeman have come under intense scrutiny from residents and Democratic legislators, who claimed they have failed to properly maintain the rapidly deteriorating Brookside Preserve, a county-owned nature preserve in Freeport and Baldwin.
Additionally, the county has ignored requests from the South Shore Conservation Society, a Freeport-based nonprofit, which, the group said, has offered to help lead the restoration efforts for free, but still await the go-ahead from Nassau officials.
The 21-acre freshwater wetland and woodland nature preserve, like several parks and protected areas across the county, is supposed to be managed and kept up by the parks department, but the area has been neglected and mismanaged for years, according to the conservation society.
During a press conference held at the preserve on Monday, Erica DeVargas, the society’s president, spoke highly of the work already done by her organization to try to protect and restore the preserve after the accumulation of litter and infrastructure damage.
The Brookside Preserve was previously managed by the South Shore Audubon Society until the organization folded after 2020 due to declining participation, thus ending the formal partnership between Nassau County and local constituents. The Conservation Society has been active since 2024 and has expressed a fervent desire to protect the preserve.
“We want to help maintain and beautify Brookside Preserve, so that it becomes a safe and inviting environment for our community, a place where families can take a walk, where friends can gather for a picnic, where bird lovers can find peace and where anyone can step away from the noise of everyday life and reconnect with nature,” DeVargas said.
Although the conservation society has led monthly volunteer clean-ups, its efforts are limited by the extent of the damage already done to the preserve — with mostly inaction from Nassau County.
“As we are cleaning up, we as volunteers take extra precaution, because there are needles on the ground, there are sex preservatives laying on the floor,” Jose Cuevas, the society’s vice president, said. “It is at times disgusting, where we have high school students passing by on their way to get an education. That’s not acceptable.”
The society’s leaders have been seeking the county’s support for nearly three years and offered to continue and expand their restoration efforts, which include cleaning up trash on the ground and in the water and rebuilding the preserve’s walkways. The society would do these tasks through grants, which they estimate to be thousands of dollars, without any cost to the county if a proper partnership with the county is established so they have legal authority to carry out extended efforts.
Cuevas and Legislator Delia DeRiggi-Whitton explained during the press conference that the organization cannot qualify for certain environmental grants that would be critical to its volunteer work without receiving official approval from the county. Fundraising efforts also would be made easier once that partnership is forged, they added.
During the press conference, Debra Mulé, the Nassau County Legislature’s alternate minority leader, affirmed the efforts of the conservation society, which is largely composed of Freeport residents.
“They formed a nonprofit,” Mulé said. “They held meetings, they put together a plan, and they came to the county with a simple offer: ‘Let us take care of it, and we’ll do it for free.’ They followed every step they were asked to take. They submitted proposals, they waited, they followed up and waited and waited.”
Cuevas stated that the parks department and County Executive’s Office largely ignored the conservation group’s offer to help. Cuevas and DeVargas claimed that the only resources the preserve has received were “a trash can and two signs.” In addition to extensive littering, much of the preserve’s pathways have been severely damaged and become dangerous due to a 2025 fire and lackluster upkeep practices.
“While Bruce Blakeman and the parks department continue to stall, this place got worse,” Mulé said.
Blakeman’s office and the parks department did not reply to the Herald’s multiple requests for comment, as of press time.
When asked during the press conference if Blakeman’s failure to adequately respond to the society’s offer was possibly political, since Freeport and Baldwin are in Democrat-led districts and Blakeman is a Republican, both Mulé and DeRiggi-Whitton said they believed that was the reason.
“What they’re asking for is not unusual,” DeRiggi-Whitton said. “If you look at Cedarmere (Preserve), Friends of Sands Point (Preserve), they’ve already established and they’ve done exactly what this group has done … So why are they ignoring these people that are generously offering their assistance? It does make me think that it’s political and that it’s just not on their radar.”
In contrast, DeVargas told the Herald that Freeport Mayor Robert Kennedy and Village Attorney Howard Colton have been very supportive of the conservation society and its volunteer efforts.
As the society still awaits the county’s support, the organization continues to organize cleanups at the preserve, with the next one scheduled for April 25 at 10 a.m., in honor of Earth Day earlier in the week. Mulé and Assemblywoman Judy Griffin are also helping with those organizational efforts.
To learn more about the South Shore Conservation Society and its Brookside Preserve efforts, visit their Facebook page.
