PARK DIRTBAGS
Partyers fill B’klyn green space with trash
Prospect Park was treated like trash by partyers who left behind shocking piles of litter.
Dog walkers and joggers were stunned Monday morning by the amount of garbage strewn about a section of the Nethermead in the beloved green oasis facing severe budget shortfalls due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Liquor bottles, food scraps, bodega bags, a bedsheet, a camping chair and plastic cups turned the field into filth.
“This is just the worst I’ve ever seen it — and it’s my favorite area in the park,” said Carole Crewdson, 80, who has walked regularly in the park for 40 years.
Kevin Williams, 33, got a trash bag from a park worker and began picking up the litter after sleeping overnight nearby. He said a party of some 2,000 people lasted until about 3 a.m.
“I’m shocked Prospect Park allowed this to happen. They need to pay me per hour to do this job,” Williams said. “The partygoers are in bed sleeping and Prospect Park is in chaos. We’re left here looking at the mess they created. …This is a sacred part of the park!”
Litterbugs are not uncommon in the park during the summer, especially after July 4, Labor Day and other big occasions. But a $3.5 million shortfall at the Prospect Park Alliance has exacerbated the problem. Across the city, 1,700 seasonal parks staff have not been hired due to budget cuts.
Meanwhile, crowds have flocked to parks that serve as refuges while bars and restaurants face restrictions and many avoid the subway.
Prospect Park has called for volunteers to pick up trash each Monday in August.
“Prospect Park is showing serious signs of wear and tear, and without our normal workforce, we need our community to pitch in and help keep this cherished green space thriving,” Sue Donoghue, president of the Prospect Park Alliance, said earlier this month.
The alliance had funded its own summer weekend cleanup crew in previous years, but that money dried up due to COVID-19 closures of the Boathouse wedding venue and other sites, a spokeswoman said.
“Illegal gatherings like the one held last night in Prospect Park present significant challenges for safety and undercut our maintenance efforts—the condition of the Neathermead is totally unacceptable. We ask that all parkgoers remain compliant by not attending unauthorized events, adhering to social distance guidelines, wearing face coverings, and by disposing of all garbage in designated receptacles,” a Parks Department spokeswoman said.
The agency said it was not aware of the party until Monday morning and urged parkgoers to call 311 if they see large gatherings.
Mayor de Blasio holds a special affinity for Prospect Park, which is by the Park Slope neighborhood he still considers home.
Hizzoner was criticized for going on a walk there in April, during the height of the pandemic, despite living in Gracie Mansion some 11 miles away.
One parkgoer attributed some of the mess to a growing homeless population. But the amount of trash, wine bottles and food indicated a raging party had gone down.
“Yeah they had a damn party, but they shouldn’t have left it like this! It’s bulls—t. They make us look very bad,” said Kendell Baptiste, 37, who slept in one of four tents roughly 30 yards from the mess. “It looks like they threw a party — a good one. But then they didn’t clean up.”
Andy, 58, who was walking three dogs, lamented an apparent lack of enforcement. “It’s like the park rangers don’t exist — like they’ve stopped doing their jobs,” he said.