Calls grow to shut down ‘open air drug market’ in Bronx business district
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Calls grow to shut down ‘open air drug market’ in Bronx business district
Calls grow to shut down ‘open air drug market’ in Bronx business district. Congressman Ritchie Torres says the city has failed to find a solution to the problem. Torres: “The Hub has effectively fallen into the hands of drug dealers” The city says it has surged resources to address mental health, substance abuse and homeless outreach, but Torres says it hasn’t been enough. He has sent a letter to the mayor urging the city to renew its commitment to finding an approach that works.”Families don’t want to come here to shop, especially at a butcher shop like this that has been here since 1984,” business owner Luis Tirado said.
MOTT HAVEN, Bronx (WABC) — Officials are sounding the alarm to shut down what they say is an “open air drug market” a business district of the South Bronx.
Congressman Ritchie Torres said he has been trying to raise awareness for a year and claims open drug use and trafficking in the hub is driving people away and hurting businesses. He says the city has failed to find a solution to the problem.
Roberto Clemente Plaza is in the middle of the Hub of what is supposed to be the South Bronx’s thriving commercial district. However, it is anything but that.
On Wednesday, Eyewitness News witnessed ambulances carting someone away, drug dealers making sales, and people barely conscious on a hot summer day.
It’s not a new problem. That is why Torres came out Wednesday to prove that one year after he spoke out about the issue, nothing has changed.
In fact, some would say it has only gotten worse. But the people who are suffering the most are not the politicians, they are the residents who live and do business there.
Some fear they can’t afford to stay open much longer because foot traffic is way down.
“Families don’t want to come here to shop, especially at a butcher shop like this that has been here since 1984…people just don’t want to walk here, there’s no parking, no foot traffic,” business owner Luis Tirado said.
Tirado said he attributes a decline in business directly to the open drug use and empty spaces.
“The Hub has effectively fallen into the hands of drug dealers, the city of New York is effectively a bystander, while an open air drug market is flourishing right in the commercial heart of the South Bronx and the conditions speak for themselves,” Torres said.
Torres blames the lack of progress on an ineffective response by the city, which in turn wrote:
“The Adams administration agrees that the decades-long issues plaguing ‘The Hub’ in the Bronx are unacceptable…we have responded to thousands of complaints, issued more than 3,600 summonses, placed dozens of homeless individuals in shelter, removed more than 730 syringes from our streets, made more than 1,000 arrests, and much more. But let’s be clear: this work is not done.”
The city says it has surged resources to address mental health, substance abuse and homeless outreach.
But Torres said it hasn’t been enough and sent a letter to the mayor urging the city to renew its commitment to finding an approach that works.
The congressman said there is a commercial vacancy rate of 15% in the area.
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