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Volunteers Gather To Spruce Up City Park Statewide For 'I Love My Park Day'

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Dozens of parks across New York City and state were looking a lot better Saturday night, thanks to thousands of volunteers who came out for "I Love My Park Day."

CBS2's Ilana Gold caught up with workers at the Chelsea Waterside Park in Hudson River Park, located at 24th Street and Eleventh Avenue, which got a major overhaul.

"It needs a little bit of love," said Chris Munns of Chelsea.

Volunteers spent hours to spruce up the park, pulling weeds and replanting gardens.

"We're just trying to make it – make the flowers have a little bit better home," said Colleen Harris of Washington Heights.

And in so doing, they made the park look like new.

"We take lots of walks here after work, Saturday morning, so we want to give back to the community," said Daniela Jelaska of Chelsea.

Cleaning up this park will also make it a safer environment for families, advocates said.

"We have a certain number of homeless people that tend to camp here," said Zazel Loven of Chelsea Waterside Park.

Beautifying the park might discourage vagrancy, and make the public feel more comfortable, Loven said.

"We want everyone to feel welcome to the park, and for people to enjoy themselves in the park," she said.

In the greater "I Love My Park Day" campaign, 6,000 volunteers cleaned up 95 parks and historical sites across the state – many in New York City and Long Island.

State leaders called the help critical.

"Unfortunately, we live in times where getting taxpayer funding to keep our parks up to where we'd love to keep them is really tough," said state Assemblyman Richard Gottfried (D-Manhattan).

So a few hours of upkeep at no cost are expected to go a long way.

"It's nice to see everything green and pretty, and taken care of," Jelaska said.

Park visitors can enjoy the improvements just in time for the summer.

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