Beach chairs, blankets and trash. Massive mess left after Trump's Wildwood rally.
By Chris Franklin & Tim Hawk | For NJ.com
The thousands of people who descended upon the Jersey Shore town for President Donald Trump's 'Keep America Great' rally at the Wildwoods Convention Center left behind a sea of trash in the parking lot — including their abandoned beach chairs and blankets — after the rally wrapped up.
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City officials said the park cleanup was the responsibility of Wildwood, while the parking lot mess was the responsibility of the convention center, which Wildwood city does not manage.
Mayor Pete Byron on Tuesday said he wasn't invited to the rally after he told NJ Advance Media he would be seeking reimbursement from the local Republican party. He had instructed all city workers to keep detailed logs of hours and expenses related to the rally. Byron did not return a request for comment early Wednesday morning.
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Clean up begins after President Donald Trump's "Keep America Great Rally" in Wildwood, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)
Workers were seen throughout the day on Tuesday, picking up trash and emptying cans.
In the frigid January air, a group of men was moving about the night on Tuesday, not long after the streets and lots emptied out.
Lugging shovels and dressed in their orange and neon green vests and worn gloves, they walked about the parking lot, their eyes scanning the dark concrete beneath them, intensely focused as if a hawk had been tracking a field mouse.
The group of workers said they had been on the clock since 8 a.m. emptying the trash cans. Now, at 8:22 p.m., more than 12 hours into their shift, their efforts had accelerated. Nearby, was a small mountain of chairs along with an industrial-sized container of full trash bags.
But by daylight, most of the trash remained in the convention center parking lot.
Garbage cans that were scattered throughout the parking lot were overflowing. The fencing and big screens for viewing the rally were removed before 9:30 a.m.
There were discarded cans, food, signs, blankets and even an air mattress.
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