Committment to keep Glen Cove green and beautiful

Protecting the planet is the number one message of Earth Day, which this year is on April 22. To demonstrate their support for the green cause, the City of Glen Cove’s Beautification Commission organized their annual clean-up at Morgan Memorial Park on April 23. 

“It's a beautiful city,” Councilman Jack Mancusi, the Beautification Commission liaison said. “So, the only way to keep it in the forefront is to keep it beautiful because just a little bit of garbage, just the little bit of code violations detracts from the whole beauty of the city.”

The event was dedicated to the late Beautification Commissioner Bill Byrne, who died last year in June. Mancusi and members of the board said that Byrne enjoyed the annual clean-up, so it was right to honor him in this way. 

“He was friendly, and he was dedicated,” Mancusi said. “And it's nice to honor him in this way. He's looking down on us right now and he's saying, thank you.” 

At least 60 volunteers, including children, signed up to join in picking up litter found across the park and neighborhood from McLoughlin Street and Landing Road to Elwood Street The main motto of the volunteers was to protect and preserve the charm of the city they know and love. 

“All of our events are to make Glen Cove a more attractive venue for our residents and guests of this city,” Dr. Eve Lupenko-Ferrante, board member of the Beautification Commission said. “There's a lot of maintenance work that the city employees are not able to do on their own, so we come in.” 

Like the broken windows theory, Mancusi said, the little bit of litter seen around the area is an invitation for others to do the same and pollute. By cleaning up the garbage found in the area, he thinks people would think twice before throwing  garbage from their cars onto the streets. 

His theory has been proven accurate. When walking around the neighborhood, Councilwoman Barbara Peebles said that residents noticed the clean-up and started picking up garbage around their homes. 

“We were walking around, and neighbors were coming out saying, ‘Oh, yes, I heard about this, and I wanted to be there,’” Peebles said. “So, neighbors will get out and it is like keeping up with the Joneses, when you really kind of inspire people to start picking up after themselves.” 

As an initiative to encourage children to help, the commission and the Glen Cove Kiwanis Club offered community service credit and certificates. “We want to be an example to the kids,” Phyllis Burnett, a member of the Kiwanis Club said. “We want the kids to come out.” 

Yim Cheng, of Glen Cove, and his 11-year-old son Aki along with Aki’s friend Oliver volunteered to help clean-up the area. Cheng said he took his son to the morning garbage pick-up as a lesson on protecting the earth. 

“It’s an amazing teaching lesson for them,” Cheng said. “Helping out in terms of community service is very important for them to be educated on and see how much garbage people start throwing out for no reason. They learn that they shouldn’t do that.” 

Mother-daughter duo Penelope and Evelyn Stefanopoulos grabbed a bag as well to help pick up the litter they found in the park. “I think it’s important to help the earth for the animals and for the water,” Evelyn, 7, said. 

Along with the clean-up, the Beautification Commission will be holding a tree planting event at Morgan Memorial Park on April 30 to further amplify the city and park’s beauty. Lupenko-Ferrante has been participating in both city green-friendly events for years with her children. 

“We want to make it one place that our residents can be proud of,” Lupenko-Ferrante said. “And since we are such an outdoor community [and] people are using our parks and our beaches and walking around town, we want it to be an inviting attraction.”