Photos by Stacie Joy
This time, however, instead of allowing the dozen or so residents of the makeshift tent encampments to pack up their possessions and move along (and only to return to the same spots a few hours later), city workers either confiscated or discarded their belongings.
A posted Department of Homeless Services flyer stated that a clean-up of this area would start on or after Nov. 9. As EVG contributor Stacie Joy documented in this post, a similar sweep took place this past Friday, though the people who were sheltering here returned after city workers left.
This particular action only targeted people who have been staying along Seventh Street in recent months. Authorities did not address the encampments inside Tompkins Square Park.
The sweep started at 11 a.m. with officers from the NYPD, Parks Enforcement Patrol and the Business District Recovery Initiative detail. They struck down tents of anyone not on-site to protect their belongings.
We're told that there were several confrontations at the outset of the sweep. (Stacie didn't arrive at the scene until after this.) One resident of the encampment was arrested and placed in an ambulance.
In addition, police arrested a mutual aid worker for "obstructing governmental administration Class A misdemeanor" for standing with/protecting a resident's tent. This individual was arrested at around 1 p.m. after exchanging words with the NYPD and released with a desk appearance ticket at around 7:30 p.m.
During the afternoon, the assembled officers bagged the belongings from the tents.
Most items, however, were just thrown in the trash. The items were bagged and tossed directly into a waiting sanitation truck. In one case, an entire tent with its belongings was rolled up and discarded...
Lt. Jermaine Oden of the 9th Precinct oversaw yesterday's sweep. He told Stacie that "due to the pandemic, items were contaminated and not able to be saved." They "had to be destroyed."
The corridor along the Park on Seventh Street was clear by late afternoon...
Afterward, Stacie saw one of the officers crying. "I felt bad for him. I do not think anyone was unaffected by this."
Previously on EV Grieve:
Giving public space for free to businesses is OK, but use of public space by private citizens who have no other options for shelter is not (city shelters are clearly not suitable options for many reasons, as mentioned in the previous article). More and more of our public space is being given over to private/capitalist interests. Right to roam, for humans and other animals, right to access public spaces, is being redefined before our eyes. I think the East River Park plan falls under this same umbrella, not to take away from the topic of this post, but rather to illustrate the connection that I see as this city is given over to unfettered capitalist interests at the expense of many of its inhabitants.
ReplyDeleteBuild home for these people! Shelters are not a long term solution to this crisis. The richest city in the USA with empty luxury towers built on public land, purchased by shell companies and built with tax breaks for corporate developers. People stop voting for the political machine, it is corrupt. Do some research into how your representatives vote on matters that affect your and your neighbors lives. Stop complaining about the homeless and vote for changes which will help these people long term.
ReplyDeleteSad that people have to lose their stuff but they have other options and should take advantage of them. The city is doing the right thing here and should not let the city fall into a state of neglect and shanty towns. If there are issues with shelters fix the shelters and don't let encampments be the answer. Once again, glad we are not San Francisco.
ReplyDelete"Giving public space for free to businesses is OK" WHAT!!!
ReplyDeleteI have a small business and nobody is offering me free public land to use for profit.
The street sheds are responsible for the rat infestation in our neighborhood. If you are concerned about filth and disease homeless camps don't come close to the vileness which exists under and around restaurant street sheds.
A bleeding heart comment above and i'm sure many to follow, why don't you take them into your own home?
ReplyDeleteDo we want this turning into permanent tent cities like in San Fran and LA (which is finally beginning to tackle the encampment issue). I'm sure people that walk by there and live across the street did not appreciate an ever growing encampment and all the belligerents there.
Also most of these people are not from here! they are just gutter punks and etc. When do rights of tax paying citizens get taken into consideration?! quality of life here has dropped tremendously- look at 14th street disaster every day!
I'm sick and tired of these people taking over public space and harassing everyone passing by. City spends billions on homeless and all we get is more and more- stop cuddling them!
Could you explain how you know that "most of these people are not from here"?
DeleteMaybe if these people put as much energy into fixing the shelters there would be fewer street homeless. There are many issues. Addicts cant be forced into shelters. Shelters are overrun with newly released inmates. The conditions are deplorable. That's the big issue. Turning into LA where there are encampments with hundreds of residents taking up entire blocks is unacceptable. Reorganize the shelters. Have separate facilities for ex inmates, mental health cases, addicts. People who dont need these services end up in a giant dorm with 12 people who all have different and serious problems. Security is nonexistent. Fix all of this.
ReplyDeleteI just watched a YT video on the state of homelessness in Oakland. I know this is a sensitive topic, but we cannot let our city cede to encampments like many West Coast cities have.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRWmKh13b50
I truly appreciate the actions taken here to remove these encampments from our streets. The waste, open drug use, health conditions, and mental illness are strong factors here. These people belong some place safe and our communities and our kids should not be subjected to this.
The knives in the photo are kitchen knives. For cooking. Holding them like evidence in a criminal case. Tent cities are a call to the city to make affordable housing abundant. So many of us know what it is like to rely on a _lottery_ (a lottery! smh) to stay in the neighborhood, our home. Permanent housing, affordable to our collective spectrum of situations, should be available to all.
ReplyDeleteTerrible all the way around.
ReplyDeleteWondering - where does everyone get a tent from -
they are kinda expensive.
Understand they don't want to be in a shelter, but
camping out is not the answer either.
Look what happened to 14 St !
Where do they go to the bathroom ?
In the park ?
It's so easy to become homeless these days.
Could happen to anyone at anytime.
Wonder which politician will actually handle the problem.
The vendor problem has not been handled by either of the council persons from the area.
DeleteImprove shelter conditions, use funds for housing vouchers and bring in competent management to the system.
ReplyDelete@noble Bellani, read the entire sentence: "Giving public space for free to businesses is OK, but use of public space by private citizens who have no other options for shelter is not". Read the rest of the post. They weren't saying what you thought they did.
ReplyDeleteSame thing took place in Washington Square ParkTuesday afternoon. Both a good number of Parks Dept rangers and police officers were taking part. A lot more homeless were living there than TSQ
ReplyDelete@ Noble... I believe you misinterpreted 10:00 post
ReplyDeleteNow they need to clean up the vendors on 14th St between First and Avenue A. It is a horrendous situation there. Difficult to walk on that side of the street. They are selling stolen goods. This is illegal.
ReplyDeleteIn other news, my friend Josh is still homeless.
ReplyDeleteThere are a lot of people who refuse to go to shelters; Josh has a tent [is a backpacker] but rarely puts up his tent because he'd be forced to take it down right away.
@Scuba Diva - thank you for that video link. Everyone should watch it.
ReplyDeleteThe homeless are so easily dismissed as having mental or drug issues when many do not and, like Josh in the video, are merely unemployed. I was briefly without a home several years ago, but I had a job. Never in my life thought it could happen to me, but it did. The kindness of strangers saved me, especially the generosity of people who did not have that much to give themselves. Pay it forward.
I was laid off from my job a couple of years ago and it was shocking to me how people I knew suddenly treated me like a pariah, as if my unemployment was my fault and somehow contagious. Instead of helping, they turned their backs. I see that behavior over and over again in our society. If you're down, it's your own fault, never mind being laid off and/or being saddled with impossible medical bills. Homelessness can happen to any of us and it can happen more suddenly than you think.
sounds like a lot of people here need to pick better friends.
ReplyDeleteHomelessness is a heartbreaking situation but the answer is not to allow tent encampments to take over parks and streets. That kind of thinking will only be the beginning of the end as quality of life for residents plummets, property values drop, and entire neighborhoods fall into disrepair.
ReplyDelete> Lt. Jermaine Oden of the 9th Precinct oversaw yesterday's sweep. He told Stacie that "due to the pandemic, items were contaminated and not able to be saved." They "had to be destroyed
ReplyDeleteWhat heartless thing to do and say. Now the NYPD cares about contamination, but half their officers don’t wear masks in areas with a mask mandate. Defund them all.
@11:10
ReplyDeleteSo you think being stabbed with a kitchen knife wouldn't wound, wouldn't draw blood? Please. A knife is a knife---and whether for kitchen use or not, it could harm someone, perhaps even fatally. Glad the cop confiscated them.
So you think people should be prohibited from possessing knives, including kitchen knives, because a knife could harm someone. Will you be turning in your kitchen knives at the local precinct, or will they have to come to your home to confiscate them?
DeleteRegardless of whether you want the encampment broken up or not destroying the tents is cruel.
ReplyDeleteThis police assault followed nasty items posted on the Village Sun web site on November 5 and 8. It's that sort of thing by mainstream and :alternative" media that paves the way for attacks on the homeless - the city doesn't like being publicly embarrassed, so they engage in overkill.
ReplyDeleteThis is like the 1980s all over again. Homeless persons do not live outside by choice, but by NECESSITY. Has anyone here ever stayed at a homeless shelter? Has anyone here ever spoken with any homeless person in and around the park to find out what's it like to be homeless and WHY they are homeless? I’ve heard the horror stories from the homeless who live outside – they all say it is much SAFER for them outside, in the cold, in the park, than it is for them in city shelters. WHY do you think that is?
From what I’ve seen, homeless tents and tarps have been set up in areas that do not interfere with parkgoers, so, aside from a very visual reminder that the city has FAILED (again), I have NO problem with them being there.
Obviously, living in the park is not the answer to homelessness, but, until TRULY AFFORDABLE housing is made available to them, the homeless have a RIGHT to live in safety where they can look out for each other and where members of the community can support them. And we DO.
To those who feel that the homeless should just "go away", I challenge you to STOP pointing fingers at the SYMPTOMS and start addressing the CAUSE of the problem, lest you one day find YOURSELVES among the homeless, dependent on the kindness and support of those in our community.
If that happens, we will help you as well.
Lets be real. I've been homeless
Deletein NYC. I stayed at the NYC Rescue Mission and the Bowery Mission. I got services at a city run drop in center and got housing. There are different paths you can take. Most people in tents are hardcore addicts. The places I stayed at had curfews, bag searches etc. You had to get up in the morning, shower, ear breakfast and try to have a productive day. Mostly applying for benefits and working on what they call a housing packet of documents needed to get a voucher and then finding a place.It requires effort. Nobody holds your hand or just gives you keys. You have to work with the case workers to make progress. It takes time. At least an year possibly more. There is no reason to be in a tent or on the subway overnight unless you are mentally ill or have serious substance abuse problems. There are lots of different shelter programs. One solution would be expanding voucher access with more funding. Spend less on shelters run by corrupt nonprofits. Not sure what is meant by ' truly affordable '. You pay 30 percent of your income and there are income limits but you have to have some income. SSI or a job. That's reality. And how many people in those tents are from out of state and gave felony warrants? Shelters require some ID and it goes in the system. People need to help themselves and put in some effort. People get permanent housing every day. It's very doable. Connect with the Coalition for the homeless. You have to start somewhere. Sitting in a tent waiting for the system to magically get you housing gets you nowhere. It's really messed up that so called progressives who have rent stabilized apts support tent encampments for political purposes. I've had this conversation before. People always throw that line about ' you might find yourself in that situation '. Been there and done that.
At 1:38 PM, Anonymous said:
ReplyDelete@Scuba Diva - thank you for that video link. Everyone should watch it.
Everyone should watch it and share it.
Divert blame to the poorest, point out if they are wearing name brand sneakers although they were most like second hand. Ignore the failing of a system / society which just wishes these humans would just disappear. Try to suppress the fear inside that you could meet a similar fate if your world unraveled, sickness mental or physical, addiction, debt from medical bills, abandonment from your family and society. It could happen to anyone of us.
ReplyDelete"This like the 1980's all over again."
ReplyDeleteActually no, it's not. The big difference is the the EV has been completely gentrified. Very basically, today, the street people are vastly outnumbered by the affluent. There are no abandoned building shooting galleries, crack houses, or squats. The best solution to me would be some kind of expanded Mitchell-Lama type housing program for those can hold down some type of job. The mental health and drug treatment programs already exist. However there seems to be a lot of lost souls who are completely and utterly unreformable. Even if someone could be forced into a treatment program there's no guarantee they would participate (and stay clean). What's clear is that you can't have people living in tents and hovels and think it's ok. It would only encourage more people to come and continue their downward spiral.
IMHO spot on 11/12 @ 1115am, direct from a human being who has been down the homeless road before and knows what it takes to get out of it. Refreshing to hear this point of view rather than the same old, same old. It's the point of view others would rather suppress.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete"Contaminated?" What is that even supposed to mean? COVID doesn't spread via fomite.
ReplyDeleteGreat job operation clean-up TSQ Park. Kids, parents, seniors etc. shouldn't have to walk by encampments on their way to schools, shopping and house of worship. 14th street in front of Target should be next area. Keep close eye park benches. Will take over our kids playgrounds.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Sanitation & 9th Pre. New mayor has his work cut out.
Glad to have the street cleaned up and passable again. I hope the park is next on the agenda, it's a scary scene at the moment. The idea that those staying there are just down on their luck is inaccurate. Drugs and mental illness are the culprits but it shouldn't be an excuse, there are resources to address these challenges, but it takes the will to do so.
ReplyDeleteCleaning up our streets and helping these folks are not mutually exclusive.