After more than three days of silence, the company that hosted the illegal party that trashed Prospect Park on Sunday has finally released a statement — and the company claims that it was all set to clean up the mess it made, but the Parks Department got there first.
In a stunning statement released late Thursday afternoon, MIH Ventures, the Bergen Street-based event promotion company whose unpermitted “Heatwave” barbecue drew thousands of garbage-leaving guests, said that the party simply got out of hand.
“Attendance at the event was much greater than anticipated, overwhelming our clean-up efforts,” read the statement, which was e-mailed to The Brooklyn Paper, which had been trying to reach company officials since Monday morning. “Our efforts to restore the park to its original condition extended late into the evening, but after exhausting our supplies, we decided to continue the clean-up the next day.
“When we returned with the necessary supplies and man power, the park had been cleaned,” the statement claimed.
There was no way to immediately verify the statement’s validity on late Thursday.
Earlier in the week, after The Brooklyn Paper broke the story about the mounds and mounds of garbage that filled the park’s Long Meadow, the Parks Department said it would seek damages from MIH Ventures for the unpermitted event.
The statement seemed to be an attempt to deflect that effort.
“We deeply regret that volunteers and park staff ultimately shouldered the responsibility of cleaning up after our event,” it said. “MIH Ventures sincerely apologizes to the community for the condition of the Park on Monday morning. We are currently working
with Prospect Park to ensure that the park remains a clean and enjoyable place for all, as we too are members of the Brooklyn community who use and appreciate Prospect Park.
“To show our support for Prospect Park and our respect for the community, MIH Ventures, in conjunction with Prospect Park, is organizing a volunteer clean-up effort to take place early this fall.”
A spokesman for the Prospect Park Alliance confirmed that MIH Ventures spoke with Prospect Park Administrator Tupper Thomas did speak with the company.
“MIH will be doing a major volunteer clean-up in the fall,” said the spokesman, Eugene Patron. “Tupper was very happy to actually speak to the organizers and work this out.”
