Brookside Preserve — Attraction in Town of Hempstead

Full of garbage - broken bottles and trash. Lots of trees make it dark. Trails hardly passable (very narrow, low tree branches sticking into the pathway from both sides, and path itself just dirt ground) and different trails go off in different directions (which one do I take???) so unless you're familiar with the a Preserve, it's not a comfortable place to explore, with the fear of getting lost. Between the darkness, the garbage and the overgrown paths, it's a very sketchy place. I walked in and lasted about 5 minutes before turning around and going to Norman Levy Preserve which is just a few miles from there and is excellent. The Brookside Preserve would be nice if they maintained it regularly (cleaned up the garbage), trim some branches that encroach into the trail, and mark the trail clearly so people aren't afraid of...

I have a love-hate relationship with this place. It’s extremely polluted—including the waters—trash everywhere, trails are unkept and there is a lack of appreciation for this preserve. But this place is also oddly charming; the graffiti is beautiful and the view of the trains passing by is astonishing. Besides the trash in the water, the milburn creek is pretty. It’s a nice place to go if you’re not coming at night, and if you’re with someone. Sketchy place...

The place could be great, but it's in terrible shape - totally unmaintained. There is garbage everywhere, and the wooden paths are dangerously rotting and falling apart. Trees have fallen across paths, and from their condition, it would appear that they've been left there for many years. What a terrible shame! Encountered a creepy individual who I suspect was...