Photo/Video Wednesday 07/07/10: Summer Dirty Gritty Edition

Ah summer... hot, outdoors and thanks to less than civil Brooklynites, filty.

I'm reposting from Gothamist, the Brooklyn Paper and the Daily News with stories and video of Prospect Park post 4th of July trash strewn, and the ashtray formerly known as Coney Island beach thanks to careless smokers. Although in fareness Coney Island while dirty is still cleaner than it used to be....

The Daily News writes:

The Daily News was easily able to gather a small mountain of butts from the sand - nearly 1,000 in all - as the holiday crowds thinned on Saturday and Sunday afternoons.

"It's disgusting," said Michael Austine, 50, of Middle Village, Queens, as he surveyed the tobacco addicts' litter.

"It's like sitting in a giant ashtray."

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/07/06/2010-07-06_get_stinkin_butts_off_our_beaches_too_many_cigs_left_on_sand_smokers_told.html


Meanwhile from Prospect Park comes this video narrated by Gersh Kuntzman of the Brooklyn Paper:


One thing I notice in the video of the park is some people seemed to try and use the trash bins available, but the parks could clearly use more. Perhaps bringing out large dumpsters for Holiday weekends or having staffers come by at the end of the day and point out to park goers where to dump. Maybe that would help with clean up?


The following statement from the Parks Department's Adrian Benepe, regarding not only Prospect Park but all city parks:

“The July 4 holiday weekend, fireworks display, and the extremely hot weather together made for a triple-whammy as huge crowds flocked to the city’s beaches, pools and parks.

More than 2.4 million went to the city’s 14 miles of beach over the three-day weekend, with more than 1.1 million on Monday alone, watched over by a large municipal lifeguard corps. The 54 outdoor pools were filled to capacity, and tens of thousands more made use of spray showers in over 450 parks. Massive crowds also arrived at all the traditional picnic and barbecue spots.

At Prospect Park, clean-up crews were out working in the park every day of the long, holiday weekend from 5 am until midnight as thousands of park goers enjoyed picnicking and barbecuing from early in the morning to late in the evening. The clean-up continues all day today and throughout the week and the summer ahead, and we ask for New Yorkers to pitch in by carrying trash to the receptacles provided and leaving it neatly placed next to the receptacles if they fill up.

Don’t dump your coals near a tree because it will kill its roots. Recycle your bottles and cans. And remember, every time you re-use a water bottle, that’s one less plastic bottle going to a landfill.”