Article updated: 5/12/2013 6:30 AM

For some Detroit services, call the D.I.Y. Dept.

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Mower Gang member Mitch Logan of Detroit removes trimmed branches from Duweke Park in Detroit earlier this month. The Mower Gang, a group of volunteer lawn mower riders, adopt parks beginning in the spring and keep them free of high-grass throughout the summer.

Associated Press

Mower gang member Tom Nardone of Birmingham drives a riding mower at Duweke Park in Detroit earlier this month. The Mower Gang, a group of volunteer lawn mower riders, adopt parks beginning in the spring and keep them free of high-grass throughout the summer.

Associated Press

About this Article

Detroit may be broke but it will soon have a first-rate motor pool, featuring 23 new ambulances and a fleet of 100 new police cars. Some city parks also are getting tender loving care. But that's not because city departments are functioning as usual. They're not. Instead, a growing collection of volunteers, some affluent, some just average guys riding their Toros, are trying to pick up some services that local government can't provide.