Emails, letters show complaints about state parks on LI

Correspondence obtained by Newsday shows a variety of complaints saying Long Island’s state parks could be better maintained.
Newsday obtained 350 emails and letters sent to state park officials between 2011 and 2016. In them, parkgoers complained about everything from noise, parking, traffic, and fees … and even the cheeseburgers and fries.
George Gorman, who oversees the state parks on Long Island, says he personally responds to each complaint. Gorman notes that 20 million people visit Long Island's state parks each year.
One of the biggest complaints state park officials received was about trash collection. Gorman says people to tend to drop stuff and leave but that staff is out there to pick up after them.
Some of the more descriptive complaints concerned the condition of the restrooms at the different parks. Some visitors called the bathrooms at the beaches disgusting, unusable, filthy and horrendous.
“The bathrooms weren't really dirty, what the problem was they are so old that even when they were cleaned they kind of looked dirty,” says Gorman, who adds that several park restrooms have been renovated this year.
State park officials say they have installed a new game center at Jones Beach and that in the fall a new family friendly restaurant will open on the Jones Beach boardwalk.