Cleaning Up After the Carnaval

As residents and businesses in West Hollywood prepare for Wednesday's Halloween Carnaval, the city of Weho is preparing for the aftermath of one of the country's largest Halloween events. 

The cleanup. 

According to city senior administrative analyst Helen Collins, the process of sprucing up Santa Monica Boulevard could surprise some, depending on how many workers and hours you envision it takes to clean up after more than 400,000 people. 

Collins said that Wednesday's cleanup efforts will begin between 11 p.m. and 11:30 p.m., once Carnaval-goers clear the streets. At that point, manpower and machinery take over. 

“We come in with a frontload of trash trucks, and about 30 people from The Beacon House and about six to eight people from our staff oversee that," Collins said. "Then we also come in with about six to eight street sweepers.”

The Beacon House is a non-profit residential recovery program for men that operates out of San Pedro, one that Collins says helps West Hollywood during several of its large city events. 

For the next six to seven hours, volunteers and city maintenance crew members scour Santa Monica Boulevard, between La Cienega Boulevard and Doheny Drive, sweeping the sidewalks and picking up trash. 

“It’s mostly trash, in the form of paper and food," said Collins, who mentioned that the occasional costume prop will also be left behind. "People are out there handing out flyers that people discard of and people are eating a lot, leaving cups. Just a lot of trash.”

On the following day, maintenance crews take to the side streets of West Hollywood to complete the cleanup process, but according to Collins, the cleanup on Santa Monica Boulevard is finished between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m. and the street is then reopened. 

“We actually are ready to open Santa Monica Boulevard between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m.," she added.

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