By Chris Franklin & Tim Hawk | For NJ.com
If you were in the market for a new beach chair, Tuesday night in Wildwood was the time to pick one up.
The thousands of people who descended upon the Jersey Shore town for President Donald Trump’s ‘Keep America Great’ rally at the Wildwoods Convention Center left behind a sea of trash in the parking lot — including their abandoned beach chairs and blankets — after the rally wrapped up.
Rally-goers were allowed to bring chairs as they waited in line — some for up to 48 hours before the event — but they weren’t allowed to bring them inside the venue.
Factor in the blankets they used to stay warm, and all their drinks and food they were snacking on during the long wait in the parking lot and the convention center ends up with a parking lot full of trash to deal with Wednesday morning.
Fox Park, however, where the line ended Tuesday and where crowds remained to watch Trump on the jumbotron when they couldn’t get inside, was spotless Wednesday morning.
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City officials said the park cleanup was the responsibility of Wildwood, while the parking lot mess was the responsibility of the convention center, which Wildwood city does not manage.
Mayor Pete Byron on Tuesday said he wasn’t invited to the rally after he told NJ Advance Media he would be seeking reimbursement from the local Republican party. He had instructed all city workers to keep detailed logs of hours and expenses related to the rally. Byron did not return a request for comment early Wednesday morning.
A convention center employee said the cleanup was expected to be completed later Wednesday.
