WAITING FOR PARK CLEAN UP

By Samuel Chamberlain

Almost two months after alerting the Parks Department about the grubby state of Verdi Park, at West 73rd Street and Broadway, Council Member Gale Brewer got her wish: an additional worker will be stationed there starting Jan. 26, according to a parks department spokesperson.

Brewer wrote the Parks Department Nov. 19 to request funding for an additional city parks worker to keep the park clean between 7 a.m. and 2 p.m.

“The park is filthy, and the trash is particularly apparent in the morning rush hour when people go to the subway,” Brewer wrote to the department’s borough commissioner, William Castro.

“We get constant complaints about the park, especially when the weather gets warm,” Brewer said. “I’ve been down there in the morning and the trash receptacles are overflowing. People leave their lunch on the benches, their cigarettes, there’s a gum problem. Somebody needs to be attached to [the park], and tell people, ‘Hey, you can’t put your lunch there.’”

Castro responded Dec. 11, pointing out the park was cleaned “at least once most days and twice daily on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.” However, the letter went on, “I agree with you that it would be very helpful to have a worker assigned to start cleaning the park before the morning rush hour.”

Now, Verdi Square may look a bit cleaner.