Inwood Hill Park Goes Without Summer Staff As Trash Piles Up

INWOOD, MANHATTAN — A "perfect storm" of ongoing demonstrations against police brutality and more New Yorkers using the city's parks during the coronavirus stay-at-home order has left Inwood Hill Park strewn with more piles of trash than usual this year, neighbors say.

"The summer months have always been unruly regarding...trash but this year seems particularly bad," said Susan Newell, who helped clean dozens of cups, bottles and other rubbish from the park's fields earlier this week.

And a new factor to the storm likely isn't helping — no seasonal maintenance staff.

The city's efforts to tighten its belt because of the coronavirus crisis has meant a $5-million delay on "seasonal spending" for the Parks Department, money that would normally pay for two dedicated summer maintenance staff at Inwood Hill Park .

Mayor Bill de Blasio's proposed 2021 budget includes another $6 million in seasonal spending delays slated for next year.

The budget cuts have left the Parks Department searching for volunteers to help keep Inwood Hill Park clean.

"City budget cuts due to COVID mean that NYC Parks will not have its seasonal staff this summer to help with Inwood Hill Park's maintenance, and yet we have been experiencing a significant increase in the level of park use,"Northern Manhattan Parks Administrator Jennifer Hoppa said in a letter to the community this week. "We would love your help in stewarding the park to protect it during this critical period."

Hoppa said volunteers can come to 218th Street and Indian Road at 7:30 a.m. on Sundays and Mondays to join the official cleaning effort.

The volunteer days are in addition to some neighbors who have been taking it upon themselves to tidy up the park.

Newell said a group got to work after finding the piles of trash Tuesday and cleaned them up. Another neighbor, who was among a group that cleaned up Indian Road Lawn on Monday, has started organizing volunteers through the Inwood Community Group on Facebook.

But it seems some of the clean-ups don't last long.

One neighbor who posted on Patch said that, at least on Sunday, the trash seemed to appear overnight.

"A friend, who’s apartment faces that section of the park, said it was clean until 11 p.m. when she went to bed. When she looked out at 4 AM the trash was strewn all over the lawn," said Teri Tyme, who had taken a photo of garbage bags neatly placed near trash cans that afternoon.

Inwood Hill Park is far from the only city park facing the financial strain of the coronavirus crisis.

A study of parks groups found that an overall proposed $61.3-million reduction to the NYC Parks Department's budget could take maintenance of the city's parks back to the days of New York City's fiscal crisis.

The 2021 budget proposal would bring staffing levels below those of the late 1970s, the height of the fiscal crisis and when parks were "vulnerable, unkept and dangerous," the study found.

The Parks Department said that New Yorkers can do their part to help by putting trash in the appropriate receptacles and calling 311 if they see excessive debris or litter.

"Parks staff's continued service through the crisis demonstrates how committed we are to maintaining our city’s parks, with health and safety being of the utmost importance right now," said a parks department spokesperson. "We also rely on New Yorkers to help by following park rules and disposing of trash properly.

We will continue to do our best to keep our parks safe, clean, and accessible."