Updated below.
Nearby this morning, police had taped off part of the benches in the center of the Park. A man's body, partially covered by a white sheet, was slumped on a bench. Witnesses said this was likely an overdose. No other information was available at the moment.
Updated:
Per amNY: "There were no apparent signs of foul play, and police sources indicated it's believed the individual may have suffered from a drug overdose."
Sad. I wonder if our local politicians will ever stop pushing for Tompkins to be an open air drug use facility and dumping ground for the homeless.
ReplyDeleteI know the young man who was found in the park and he was neither homeless nor a junkie. He had an apt, friends and family, and was a member of the teamsters union.
DeleteIf you died in a public location without ID on you, what would people who didn't know you say? Don't be so quick to judge, I can gaurantee you that someone you love is a day away from being homeless or overdosing.
local politicians are actively pushing for that? Good to know.
ReplyDelete(Unsolicited opinion) I agree with both parties. Having frequent Tompkins Square park I have noticed issues with drug induced individuals passed out in the park, trash bins that don't open so instead trash bags are hung all over the park for waste disposal, and not enough is being done to help the homeless (who not all are in their situation due to drugs, I've spoken to many and have offered help in the way I could). The community is aware. Locals from the area (Alphabet City/LES) and small businesses in the area (Just to name a few MORUS,Lily's Crepes Shakes and Smoothies, Loisaida Inc, Viking Waffle, PSA4) have been working on helping out their community and improve the image of the area through donations. I speak from my own observation and experience visiting the area.
ReplyDeleteNow even though the park may have a reputation amongst the locals in the community, there are a huge amount of others who aren't familiar with the park. It's important to realize that. misinformation is a thing, along with the grave repercussions to inspire the wrong type of action and misinformation unless there's credible/factual evidence. Let's not try to revive the negative energy from 2020.
FYI to unnamed Neighbor.... Charlie Parker was a junkie. That sad comment you made was BS you really don't care. Where does it say that this was a homeless person ? There was speculation that it was an OD but only speculation. You just wanted to use this person's death to attack politicians. If it was an OD then this is a good reason to open a safe injection center near TSP. In the history of the Park nobody dumped homeless people there they went on their own and have just as much right to be in the Park as anyone else. To Neighbor move to Florida you would be happier there.
ReplyDeleteSafe injection sites don't prevent overdoses. That's one reason CA Gov Newsom is against them. San Francisco is removing their safe injection site. It became a place for dealers and addicts. The area around the site deteriorated.
DeleteI never suggested it was a homeless person but the reality is that our politicians have been actively encouraging encampments and permissive drug use in the park to the detriment of our community. Allowing it to degrade does no one any good. I'm happy to stay in NYC and fight back against these insane policies and push back against people like you who think you're the only one with a right of an opinion thanks.
ReplyDeleteNot only Charlie Parker was a junkie, he had chosen his apartment location specifically for its proximity and easy access to heroin.
ReplyDeleteThis is truly tragic. I, like so many who live near the park have seen several OD and there is nothing we can do than to call 911 and have them intervene, if it isn't too late already. I don't have a solution to this issue. I am not certain a safe injection site would behoove anyone in this terrible situation. I think Tompkins is a thoroughfare for many to convene, roam, and be free. Unfortunately, there is no literal way to police others in this area or control what others do to or with their bodies. Assigning blame to just politicians or to the public at large is futile. It is a compilation of contributing factors which have given weight to this epidemic of rampant drug abuse and neglect in our neighborhood. I don't see it ever dissipating just like the homeless community or those whom are mentally ill with little to no access towards resources or professional assistance. More needs to be done. But how? RIP to the man who lost his life to drugs. Just so fucking sad.
ReplyDelete@5:33- Last I checked former mayor DB gave his wife Chirlane 1 billion $$$$$ mental health programs (Thrive NYC). Plenty of resources. where the money goes and how it's spent I couldn't say. On the other hand if someone has a mental health/ substance abuse problem and doesn't or won't participate then there's nothing anyone can do.
ReplyDeleteMaybe someone can tear Mayor Adams out of a nightclub to pay some attention to TSP. I joke, that will never happen.
ReplyDeletePenley " In the history of the Park nobody dumped homeless people there"
ReplyDeleteThat is flat out untrue. In the 80's and obviously earlier, Bellevue would transport vans of patients and "dump" them at the park.
Hey "Neighbor"
ReplyDelete> "our politicians have been actively encouraging encampments and permissive drug use in the park"
Citation needed. Specific examples of "actively encouraging".
While I do feel bad for the addicts to some degree ( which seem to be growing by the minute in TSP ) the whole area has really fallen back to what it was I like 1992 so much litter/ so many junkies / so much crime .. you would think it would drive down real estate costs.. I only stay bc of a rent stabilized apt … v few positive attributes of late .
ReplyDelete"Safe injection sites don't prevent overdoses."
ReplyDeleteWrong. The Vancouver site has saved many lives. It's pretty obvious: if someone is right there with the Narcan, they can help!
"San Francisco is removing their safe injection site. It became a place for dealers and addicts. The area around the site deteriorated."
You are making this up! SF literally never opened theirs, it was vetoed by Newsom only recently. See here: https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/safe-injection-sites-sb57-veto-gov-gavin-newsom/
You ought to be ashamed of yourself, lying like this. What are you, some broker-bro who thinks he can't sell in the neighborhood if his clients see poor people in the park?
RIP to the deceased.
Safe injection started in the early 80s in Zurich Switzerland, when a city truck would park under the infamous junkie gathering bridge, and supply them with free clean heroin to shoot at the truck.
DeleteMelancholy threatens individuals who can’t find fulfillment, creative beings most at risk. The tendency to medicate despair with prescription drugs adds fuel to an already raging fire. Mental health is community fitness, we must do more to recognize imbalance and address social empathy.
ReplyDeleteI have been fortunate, recognizing alcohol was a family problem has kept me sober. Many of my friends and neighbors have not survived their struggles. Success, prestige, even love can’t stop those that find immense emptiness. Recognizing emptiness as a fact of existence can sometimes help, facing the devil strengthens resolve to battle for piece of mind.
Losing more souls reminds us, everyone has something beautiful to offer. Charlie Parker, Bill Evans, and Erin Evans, Bill’s delightful niece, my upstairs neighbor at 96 St. Marks were all lost to a void they could not express. Melancholy is a symptom of the disease called addiction. All loss of life is heartbreaking, remembering those we had hoped more for is essential.
The pain of addiction is difficult on the neighborhood, but devastatingly tragic for the addict and their loved ones.
I am saddened by these posts. I had known this individual as a child. He was troubled. Be kind.
ReplyDeleteThere was another OD earlier in the week in the bathroom. The drug dealing goes on around 7am daily. It would help to have a couple of beat cops just walk around the park in the mornings. Maybe some of these tragedies could be prevented.
ReplyDelete"...the reality is that our politicians have been actively encouraging encampments and permissive drug use in the park to the detriment of our community" - not a surprise, it's exactly what they did with TSP in the late 70s-early 80s, when it was the ONLY park in the entire city system that did not have a curfew. The powers that be considered it a "safety valve", a place where people could go after midnight, when all the other parks shut down, and act out.
ReplyDeleteAnd anyone who doesn't believe this, ask yourself why there is NO kind of police enforcement in the park whatsoever? Washington Square Park has regular sweeps, busts, patrols, attention paid. TSP - close your eyes and what do you see? That's right, nothing. Because our "progressive" elected officials think it's somehow kinder to let this much-needed (especially now that the East River Park is a heap of rubble) green space fester and rot in the name of "compassion".
@9:38- WSP is not as bad as TSP but the NW corner is very similar. Plus the mentally ill, homeless, and addicts drift over to Waverly Pl to panhandle, piss, and shit in the street or doorways. And Shoplifters are running amok because of the high end stores in the West Village. It was reported that some guy had his Rolex ripped off his hand yesterday in broad daylight on 23 St by 2 guys on a moped. I saw a guy on Cortland Alley napping? in a pile of trash Thursday. The downward spiral continues..............
ReplyDelete"Washington Square Park has regular sweeps, busts, patrols, attention paid."
ReplyDeleteBecause of the extremely expensive co-ops all around it (EV gentrification isn't a patch on Fifth Ave. co-ops). And the cops behave abominably there.
We need more housing, more services. The addicts and the homeless don't magically disappear when the cops beat them up and move them on. (We also need cops committed to public service rather than getting their bully yayas out--I'm not one of those people who thinks we can just dispose of a public order function--but I fear we'll see public housing for all before we'll see that.)
I wish there was a way we could make people go to rehab and save their lives .. … I see the same 20-30 homeless junkies on street until you do not see them anymore bc they OD’d ..
ReplyDeleteGetting them off the drugs is the answer .. not allowing them places to do it more effectively/ conveniently. How is that helping ? Is that helping them get a job? Or will they still be sleeping in park and just not ODing ?!
I worked with, and took this guy under my wing. Wonderful person,who was trying too do good with his life. He was doing great,working,getting . Breaks my heart too see this happen. Rest in power TOASTY.
ReplyDeleteIf anyone has any information about services for my friend, please look me up and let me know
ReplyDeleteRest in power K.K. toasty
ReplyDelete