Residents press Hempstead for stronger sanitation enforcement, street sweeping and signage removal

Several residents at the Town of Hempstead meeting on March 11 urged the board to increase enforcement and resources for sanitation and quality-of-life issues, including litter, illegal signage and more frequent street sweeping.

Pearl Jacobs, a Uniondale resident, told the board that trash and debris in Uniondale are "overflowing" streets and sidewalks, that many businesses do not clean in front of their properties, and that trash placed at curbsites often attracts birds that disperse litter. Jacobs asked that "the town of Hempstead commissioner attend my next community meeting Monday, April 7 at 7PM at the Van Ness Firehouse to hear the concerns of residents regarding sanitation issues in Uniondale." She also said she had emailed Councilwoman Goolsbee's office and had not received a response.

Chris Jacobs, also from Uniondale and a participant in the town's Quality of Life Task Force formed in spring 2023, said the hamlet is "plagued" by illegal and vulgar signage and by unsightly signs posted on utility poles. "Motorists, pedestrians, students, and young children all should not have to be subjected to seeing this degrading visual pollution on a daily basis," he said, urging work through the Quality of Life Task Force to remove signage and graffiti.

Lataya Carter of Lakeview quoted the town's online statement that "town roadways are scheduled to be swept on a regular basis," and questioned what "regular basis" means in practice. Carter said in her neighborhood the town appears to sweep roughly once a month in a three-day period and asked whether street sweeping could be scheduled more frequently.

The meeting record shows these were requests and public comments; the board did not announce a scheduling change or a specific enforcement plan during the March 11 session.