Volunteers Clear 207 Pounds Of Trash From Hudson River Park Shore

CHELSEA, NY — The Hudson River Park trust and volunteers from the Whitney Museum of American Art cleared the park's Gansevoort Pier this week of 207 pounds of trash including a sewing machine, a street sign and various pool noodles.

The Chelsea cleanup is one among ten planned across Hudson River Park for the year and gathered 900 pieces of plastic debris that were categorized into the park's data as part of its research on microplastics. The waste was also logged with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to understand what's being thrown away, where it's coming from and how how it's impacting local marine life.

"It is important for people to understand that our oceans and our rivers are getting inundated with plastics and waste, and the cleanup shows the gravity of the situation," said Madelyn Wils, the president and CEO of the Hudson River Park Trust.

More than two dozen volunteers with the nearby Whitney Museum of American Art, including the museum's director Adam Weinberg, pored over the Hudson shoreline just off of 10th Avenue and Gansevoort Street removing plastic bottles, tattered clothes and some unusual trash including a package marked “Explosives,” a jack-o-lantern and a dead sturgeon that washed up from the Atlantic Ocean, according to the trust.

Last year the Hudson River Park Trust gathered nearly 10,000 pieces of plastic for more than 700 pounds of marine debris.

Those interested in participating in the next Hudson River Park clean up or any other volunteer opportunities with the park can reach out to Anna Koskol at akoskol@hrpt.ny.gov.

Photos courtesy of Filip Wolak