More than 30 volunteers braved a cold and damp morning to pick up garbage and various debris along the shoreline of the salt marsh area at Liberty State Park.
More than 30 volunteers braved a cold and damp morning to pick up garbage and various debris along the shoreline of the salt marsh area at Liberty State Park.
This was the 21st annual cleanup at the park, and the Friends of Liberty State Park organized the event.
Volunteers picked up various items from the muddy area, including iron pieces that appear to have come off a ship, to Chapstick containers, to something that appeared to be a chunk of Styrofoam the size of a small child.
"Sam really is all about this park," said volunteer Amy Bullis about Sam Pesin, the head of the Friends of Liberty State Park. "I'm honored to know him and be part of this whole thing to preserve Liberty State Park."
The road leading into the park is named after Pesin's father, Morris, who founded the park. There is a footbridge that was named after his mother, Ethel.
"We're fighting the governor's privatizing and commercializing the park," Pesin said, adding that the Department of Environmental Protection is "refusing public hearings and a public comment period," about the proposed commercialization of the park.
"For this great park behind the Statue of Liberty, we need a democratic process," he added. "The people have the right to speak out about the park and its future."
Agnes Debethune is a volunteer with the organization and helps with its weekly gardening program. She said the group has planted thousands of bulbs and mulched park areas through volunteers at no cost to taxpayers.
"The state is remiss in not funding this park better than it does," she said.
Students were among the group of today's volunteers. Thomas Kovacik is a student of the Schools of Arts and Science at Rutgers University in New Brunswick. He said volunteering at today's cleanup was something inspired by a guest lecturer in one of his classes who talked about the petition to stop the commercialization of the park.
"I see the environment get worse and worse every day, and every little bit helps in trying to preserve it," Kovacik said.
Ivan Michel of Jersey City said his family has been involved in these kinds of cleanups for 30 years.
"I want to help bring awareness to the problem of pollution out here, and inspire people to do their small part," he said.
Over the years, some of the stranger items he's found at the cleanups include life vests, fishing lines, and people's entire CD collections.
"The tide brings this stuff in," he said. "You'd imagine how bad it would be if no one did anything. The onslaught is never-ending, but we try."
The Jersey City Incinerator Authority donated a dumpster for the trash collection, Pesin said. Whatever was collected will be sorted out and disposed of properly, he added. The park itself provided wheelbarrows, gloves and trash grabbers.
Ted Lai, a professor at Hudson County Community College, fell on a curb during the cleanup and received medical attention for a small injury, Pesin said. He was treated on the scene for minor cuts and went home, according to Pesin.