Recently Reopened Roberto Clemente Park In Disrepair, Residents Say
BRENTWOOD, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) – Residents waited four years for a Long Island park to be cleaned up following an illegal dumping scandal, but some in the community say it still needs a lot of work.
Four million dollars were spent to clean up and fix Roberto Clemente Park in Brentwood, WCBS 880's Sophia Hall reported.
The park closed in May 2014 after 1,100 tractor-trailer truckloads of contaminated debris were found to have been dumped there. A number of people were convicted in the crime, and the park finally reopened last month.
But resident and father of a 2-year-old daughter Marcos Maldonado told Hall the playground has rust, the trail is unfinished and the baseball field is gone. For a large park, there is no staff on site, no restrooms and only a handful of picnic tables.
"One of the main things that we wanted addressed was a higher tree line that goes around the property so that everyone, all of the houses and the public streets, have a clear view as to what's going on inside the park," he said.
The Town of Islip operates the park, but did not return WCBS 880's request for comment.
