Hampton Bays Resident Organizes Ponquogue Point Clean-Up [Photos/Video]

A special Hampton Bays spot, which usually provides breathtaking views of the Ponquogue Bridge, has become a scene similar to that of the Hampton Bays railroad station before MTA officials agreed to step in and clean in up last March.

Ponquogue Point, which sits on the north side of the Ponquogue Bridge, is riddled with trash — from plastic bags to soda cans, food containers, glass bottles, and tires — all left to rot in the sand and under the cattails.

Among the waste is also piles of debris, specially delivered by Superstorm Sandy.

Life-long Hampton Bays resident and artist Carolyn Munaco Haines recently came upon the scene and felt she needed to act.

"I always pick up the trash when I am out on my adventures to find driftwood, other objects and photos for my art work," she said, adding that the sheer amount of garbage at Ponquogue Point was too much for just a few people to clean-up.

"It's an overwhelming mission to take on with just the help of my three awesome children and frankly, I can not afford to haul off all the debris," she said.

She sprang into action, and created Facebook event, asking everyone an anyone to help clean up the area on Friday, starting at 4 p.m. and on Sunday, starting at 7 a.m.

"People can come all weekend, I am just basing the times around the high tide," she said.

Haines is asking anyone willing to help to bring garbage bags and to wear gloves and good shoes since there is a lot of broken glass and nails around.

The Southampton Parks Department, she said, has agreed to pick up all the trash collected on Monday morning.

Haines said that this will not be the only clean-up event she is going to host — she said there are so many other areas around Hampton Bays where trash has washed up after Sandy.

One other spot on her radar is East Tiana, where she said she has been slowly cleaning up with her children.

"The garbage is all up in the marshes," she said.

For more information on Haines' clean-ups, visit her Facebook event page here.

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