DOWNTOWN DETROIT EFFORT:

After booms come brooms

Penske-led crews clean up fireworks-crowd litter

BY JOE ROSSITER
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

June 30, 2006

Workers pick up trash Thursday on Randolph Street in Harmonie Park. From left are Tanganyika Dudley, 28, of Benton Harbor, Renee Mulka, 41, of Westland and Emmanuel Hollis, 19, of Detroit. "This is very nice to know we're doing something for the community," Mulka said.
(Photos by AMY LEANG/Detroit Free Press)

What a difference a day makes!

Armed with brooms, dustpans and shovels, uniformed crews swept away debris and trash left by thousands who jammed downtown Detroit for the fireworks. They worked with all the precision of a pit crew.

Which is no surprise given who was behind it.

Roger Penske's Downtown Detroit Partnership oversaw the Clean Detroit crews. Over four hours on Thursday morning, they filled about 140 bags -- more than a ton of litter.

Richard Thompson, a 56-year-old worker for Clean Detroit and a Detroit resident, busily tended to the corner of Congress and Shelby on Thursday, cleaning up sidewalks, gutters and streets. He said people noticed the effort.

"We have picked up a lot of trash so far," he said. "This year we have more equipment and more staff so we're able to get more done. I think people appreciate what we're doing. It makes you feel good when someone compliments you."

Detroiter Harold Craig, another member of the team, swept the corner at Fort Street and Griswold.

"The reaction from the public has been great," Craig said.

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