For Gail Middleton, the 4 a.m. wake up call is worth it.
“It’s always been a place of solace,” Middleton said looking out across the stretch of sand. “There’s so much beauty down here it totally relaxes you.”
On Staten Island’s north shore, she says it is “her” beach. The place she once came for reflection and solace after her husband’s devastating cancer diagnosis.
What You Need To Know
- Gail Middleton has been coming down to the Fort Wadsworth beach for a long time. Picking up trash is something she wished everyone who came to the beach would do; or that people would simply remember to take all their trash with them when they left
- Middleton's daily routine has done more than simply clean the beach. Her early morning presence helped alert the fire department of a beach fire before it got out of hand on the dry beach grass
- Middleton is collecting and documenting everything she finds to use as art supplies in her exhibit: Flotsam Jetsam Ocean Oddities Collected from the Staten Shores
“It is the beach I clean every morning. I consider it my beach, but I think everyone who comes here considers it their beach,” Middleton said with a smile.
Since November, Middleton has been picking up trash in earnest.
Documenting and keeping each piece of trash as future art supplies.
She said her plan is to put together a plastic mosaic and trash sculpture art show called flotsam jetsam ocean oddities collected from the Staten Shores.
“I just want people to see how much stuff is left on the beach,” Middleton said. “And if you’re walking along the beach, if you see something, pick it up, take it off the beach. Put it in the garbage can and the beach will be beautiful for everybody. It’s just that simple.”
You name it, Middleton has probably found it. Shoes, actions figures, balloons, soccer balls and everything in between ends up in her bucket.
“The biggest offender [is] plastic,” Middleton said with a shake of the head.
Her morning routine has also meant more than simply picking up trash.
“I came back with a friend and luckily I did because this whole area was on fire,” Middleton said. “It was a scary thing to come down and just see flames and smoke. People have to be more careful.”
Despite the constant pick up of debris, Middleton is hopeful for the future.
“I am encouraged. There are a lot of people who clean up the beach,” Middleton said. “So if we get more people, you know, we’ll have cleaner beaches and it’ll be around much longer.”
For cleaning up and bringing back the natural beauty of an ocean sunrise, Gail Middleton is our New Yorker of the Week.