Volunteers Clean Up Milestone Park

It is difficult for any city public park to remain perfectly clean, and Milestone Park has not been an exception to this rule. A group of volunteers decided to do something about it and the Brooklyn Daily Eagle is reporting that they took up their brooms and garbage bags and set about sweeping out all the trash they could find.

The cleanliness of Milestone Park, located on 18th Avenue between and 81st Street and 82nd Street, has been spotty to say the least. We’ve previously reported on household trash being dumped in heaps around the park and people using the park as a personal toilet.

The volunteers who decided to fight the mess were spurred on by Councilman Vincent Gentile and Assemblyman Bill Colton. A coalition of local residents, high school students, cub scouts and church groups showed up to clean the park up this past Sunday, all given supplies by the Department of Sanitation. Colton praised the volunteers who showed up to help beautify the neighborhood.

“It’s great for the park and it’s wonderful for the volunteers, too. They get a sense of pride in knowing that they did something good for their community,” Colton told the Daily Eagle.

Gentile hoped that the strong display of positive community activism would influence others to be more mindful in the future.

“Maybe if your neighbor sees you picking up litter, it will inspire them to be more conscious of their surroundings and think twice before littering next time,” Gentile said.

Aspiring volunteers who missed out on this cleaning fest have another opportunity coming up next month as Gentile and Colton promised a graffiti cleanup of 86th Street set for July 15.