Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy
Several city agencies have recently participated in weekly sweeps of an unhoused encampment under the sidewalk bridge on the NE corner of Ninth Street and First Avenue.
Last night, nearly a dozen community groups and mutual-aid network members planned a protest outside the 9th Precinct on Fifth Street to speak out against the ongoing sweeps ...
In anticipation of this protest (there were flyers announcing it on social media), the NYPD had placed barricades on the entrances to the block between First Avenue and Second Avenue... and only residents (with ID) or delivery people were allowed through ...
At some point, police escorted activists Johnny Grima and Derrick DeMaria out of the barricaded area.
It's not immediately clear what happened next. Grima ended up on the sidewalk on Second Avenue and Fifth Street with an apparent injury from a fall. (Grima claimed he was pushed while officers at the scene said he fell.)
It took nearly 30 minutes for EMTs to arrive ... while Grima remained on the ground...
A uniformed officer accompanied Grima to the hospital, where he was evaluated for injuries.
In the spring of 2022, the city conducted multiple sweeps on Ninth Street between Avenue B and Avenue C (coverage here and here and here) ... and along Seventh Street and Tompkins Square Park in November 2021.
In the past 18 months, activists have spoken out against the citywide encampment sweeps ... while asking for safe housing for New Yorkers living on the streets.
Mayor Adams has defended the actions, saying "he was working to preserve the 'dignity' of homeless New Yorkers."
After a late September sweep on Ninth Street and First Avenue, police officials reportedly said it "was a result of numerous community grievances from locals and business owners who complained that the sidewalk was blocked."
54 comments:
At the monthly Community Council meeting at the precinct this week a representative of the East 9th Street Block Association spoke about the this encampment. She said several female senior citizens were menaced by the men in the encampment and were frightened to walk on that side of the street. She said she receives constant complaints about the harassment of residents and the garbage left by the homeless there. She said no one walks on that side of the block anymore because they are afraid.
Not condoning the sweep but there is another side to this story.
I think this representation is disingenuous. These two are agitators and create toxic, dangerous situations daily with their behavior. They’ve occupied a corner, not only adding detritus to the sidewalk, making it nearly impassable, but their behavior spills to threatening and disruptive. They do not belong on the street.
I am also continuously impressive by the docility and impassivity of the officers that must repeatedly attend to them.
Yesterday morning, as DSNY cleared the area, these two accosted officers, bystanders, cars, thrashing items about.
To speak of this as if a civic injustice done onto them is specious at best, but seems intentionally spurious.
Not sure it's legal to block off a street to prevent a protest!!!
Do you ever notice how the residents aren't the one's against the sweeps, but instead it's groups coming in who don't have it at their front doors?
Yeah - I empathize with the residents of the block - my block has lots of new “stuff” happening and it is incredibly stressful. They need to protest for permanent housing not the right to camp on the streets
If people would just welcome these souls into their homes, this would not be happening.
interview residents? You always present this in a one aided manner. What about the ADA? Or Seniors?
The people in this particular encampment (like a number of encampments that have been in the neighborhood over the years) had basically created their own living room; couch, chairs, music and all. Situations such as these are simply not OK--including for the people who are part of the encampment. There are various services the City provides but, as has long been the catch, the people in need have to accept the aid. Removing/cleaning up such encampments is a necessary step.
@thinkkaz 12:39pm I have lived directly across First Ave (NW corner of 9th & 1st) from where this encampment currently sits for over 20 years, so I would consider myself a “resident” and personally, I am disgusted and disheartened by the sweeps, which I find inhumane and contrary to the human “dignity” Mayor Adams ludicrously claims that they preserve.
And @Carol from East 5th Street, I am, of course, disgusted, too, if elderly residents have been menaced by anyone on this corner. In my experience, though, I have never seen anyone there menace anyone walking by. I am not trying to deny the experiences of those residents, however I would be curious to know what any of the people on this have done that would constitute menacing, and if perhaps the complaining party’s definition of menacing includes the mere presence of homeless people on this corner. My apologies if they were menaced in a serious way, but the word “menacing” is pretty vague and I have yet to witness anything whatsoever that deserves that description in my daily/nightly walks past this group. And as for “no one” walking on this side of the street, that is simply incorrect. I see plenty of people walking past them at all hours of day/night, again, without incident.
So, to borrow a bit from @thinkkaz 12:39, do you ever notice how people like to make sweeping, inaccurate generalizations about the feelings of all residents?
I, for one, applaud the efforts of those protesting the sweeps and would have joined them, had I known about the protests, and will if they are held again in the future.
I do hope that no passersby have been menaced. Thus far, though, the only menacing I have seen on this corner has been perpetrated by the 9th Precinct. I hope for the safety of all members of our community, housed and unhoused alike.
I've been harassed by this group many times, and threatened with bodily harm, just for walking on the crosswalk near them. I would not consider them as activists.
How come there's never an 'encampment' in front of Gracie Mansion? Or on Park Avenue in the 60's?
Stop being stooges! These provocateurs USE our neighborhoods for their own purposes. Eff 'em all, and get them OUT OF HERE. Because the inmates have been running the asylum for way too long.
@2:03PM: You think "menacing" is "vague"? Well, I guess it hasn't happened to you yet. And I'm betting you're MALE.
YOUR sweeping statement puts you firmly on the side of those who threaten our safety. Why are you so concerned about the well-being of those who are free to MENACE us and who degrade the quality of life here?
Public safety for tax payers first. Sweep again and again.
We simply can't have people living in the streets like this, otherwise we turn into San Francisco. It doesn't help the city to have people protesting against this- sidewalks are meant for what they are named for. That being said, it has to be done humanely, and it should be communicated to residents what exactly is being done with the homeless.
I walked through this area the other night with a friend, both of us hardened 35 year residents of the neighborhood, and these particular homeless gentlemen were mouthy, harassing sidewalk blocking assholes. My friend who walks through that corner daily says they’d been there awhile and always acted like assholes. So, maybe these particular gentlemen are not your typical “don’t tread on me” homeless, but one’s just looking for trouble. Cause I for one wanted to give them some.
Keep the sweeping going on. Operation clean up big time.
Make street safer for folks having to pass this encampment daily such as: students, seniors, folks just trying to go about their daily jobs, school and chores.
We were San Francisco long before San Francisco was San Francisco. And actually despite what the not really liberal San Franciscans and Fox News want you to believe, the problems in San Francisco are bad but limited to three or four very distinct locales.
Is this the group that camped out in front of the pizza place on St.Marks and 1st? They were sweeties.
Wow, the lack of empathy for our homeless neighbors is saddening. I guess noone remembers when the LES was an activist haven. Activists took over abandoned buildings and turned them into housing, they took over an abandoned school and turned it into a community center. Not to forget that all the beautiful gardens we have were started by activists taking over abandoned vacant lots filled with garbage. I walk by this crew every day and have never been harassed. I've spoken to the main guy several times as he used to camp out in front of the wings place across the street. He was never threatening. If your a fan of the sweeps where do you think when their swept these folks go? Have any of you set foot in a NYC shelter? They are awful and dangerous. Huge rooms filled with cots a foot apart and filthy bathrooms. I get that the people on the block don't like the eyesore created by the camp because it hurts their property values, but everything isn't about property values.
4:31 where is your empathy and what exactly are you foing to help these people?
It sounds as though you have a perspective but no action.
@1:01 pm: Ah, yes, another sad soul trying to convince himself that everyone secretly wants the homeless to go away and die somewhere else like he does--they're just hypocrites who won't admit it, but see! They wouldn't take random homeless people into their living rooms! Gotcha!
No, dude, it really is just you with the shrivelled-up soul. The rest of us want adequate public support for these people in ways that keeps them safe and meets their needs, hopefully encouraging them towards normal lives if possible, and we want our taxes to go towards that. Not towards random and pointless police aggression against these folks.
Then don't turn NYC into Los Angeles.
Yea I've been to a city shelter. They helped me get permanent housing. These people could do the same. There's no reason to be camped on the sidewalk. It's not progressive or compassionate to permit this. Improve shelter conditions but don't allow this
Good lord. Put me in the camp of the people speaking out against the people in favor of encampments.
That’s nice that you weren’t harassed but clearly many people writing here state they felt harassed. As I stated earlier these particular gentleman were clearly making a point to not only heavily occupy a narrow stretch of public way (not a vacant lot) but were quite obviously commenting obnoxiously to all who walked by. As to the “activists” of some 35 years ago, we called them squatters. In fact they called themselves squatters. And none of the one’s I knew were homeless. They just didn’t like paying rent and were smart enough to move in and electrify abandoned city owned buildings. And, yes, several vacant lots were turned into gardens, which, of course, has nothing to do with solving the homeless problem. As to “activists” living in vacant lots. Those “activists” were really just homeless. And most of those lots were eventually filled with “affordable” housing. None of that has to do with these particular individuals. They are just assholes.
This person has no plan. They think it's ok for them to be camped outside of businesses and block sidewalks. Because sweeps are like mean and stuff.
EV Grieve should do a companion piece about the Bowery Mission and other service providers in the area.
Pro Sweep. There are services available and renters/owners should be able to have safe, clean areas in the area considering the rents paid. Mental health holds should be mandatory.
This isn't random or pointless. These 'unhoused neighbours ' are the aggressive ones. And the city spends billions on homeless services annually.
Fair enough. God helps us
I love how this guy's top priority seems to be getting a vape into his friend's mouth. It is very much inline with the City's approach of 'distribute crack pipes first, get people the addiction and housing services they desperately need second'.
Well, I walked out of my house on this block the other morning and between the parked cars, right in front of my house, was a large pile of feces, definitely not from a dog. I know the difference!! Sorry, for all the voices who say let them be, is this what you want to see when you walk out your door to start your day?
Oh, and one more thing. The other day I watched one of the men walk across the street, urinate on the side of my neighbor's stoop next to the adjoining building and walk right back to the encampment. Our street has become an open air toilet!!
These people should be bussed to the Hamptons. Many homes there sit empty for large chunks of the year. There, these homeless people can enjoy a different side of life.
PS122 needs to take down that sidewalk bridge - its been there for 20 years! Surprising it hasn't been used this way sooner. And yes, the sidewalk is blocked and we actively avoid the corner...
Again - PS122 has turned that corner into what it is today
Whoa, bus ME to the hamptons daddy.
This is the latest response from the city. They apparently have washed their hands on this
,
This Service Request has been closed by the New York City Police Department, NYPD.
Your request details are:
Service16298137
Type: Encampment
Location: 150 1 AVENUE, MANHATTAN (NEW YORK), NY, 10009
Date Submitted: 10/21/2023 6:26:45 AM
NYPD provided the following information:
The Police Department visited the location and no Encampment was found.
Thank you,
NYC311
It does seem like it would be better if they could pee elsewhere but other than that I don't see much difference between their setup and the restaurant sheds. Both selfishly taking over public space for their own uses.
“ I don't see much difference between their setup and the restaurant sheds.”
CHECK PLEASE
10:31AM - I'm no fan of the restaurant sheds, but now you're just being disingenuous comparing the two. We should be looking for solutions to get people off the streets, but letting groups of people set up encampments on the streets. Both are allowed to be true at the same time. Though I know that's hard for some people to follow.
Interesting, daily I see dogs peeing and defecating out in the opem and never is a word said. To think that these souls are bring placed lower than a dog just breaks my heart and I imagine their hearts are broken as well.
Maybe they could move their encampment to Bluestockings who made the news today for their facilitation of open drug use.
the term "Affordable Housing" should only be applied to housing being built for those who are priced out of the housing market- not for folks earning 100k. you know, for those who can't afford housing. If I earned 100k I would be able to afford housing. So basically the program is a campaign mocking people who are priced out of the housing market.
Right. So then the right sorts of people are ok. Sounds positively utopian.
Unfortunately I have a sight line and am
in hearing range of the encampment.
Comments such as I’ve never seen them
menacing people aren’t helpful. Maybe it didn’t happen to you, but other neighbors have been in this situation; please don’t try to ignore that. (And btw that is precisely why the police come by, when it is not a part of a sweep.)
For those that don’t know, this is the corner of Performance Space 122, still PS122 to some of us that formerly hosted a daycare, along with artists…So, the facade was restored during a renovation and quickly starting falling apart. There is a plan for it to continue to be fixed and likely when it happens the encamped people won’t be happy by all the people and noise and extra levels of scaffolding that will need to go up.
This is the narrow sidewalk of 9th st, with a scaffolding, with belongings on both sides of the sidewalk and an even narrower passageway now. Also there is no way to get out of it. The opening to the street is before it, so I do understand people not wanting to go through. You’d be trapped between scaffolding bars/people/stuff and blocked in view by the scaffolding.
If you live here you know the man that everyone mentions. He screams, lots of profanity and it really does last a long time. He appears to be the ringleader. Kicked someone out the other day who he claimed stole something and then the stealing guy came
back to the group.
I have seen the police respond many times and they should be commended for their professionalism. They do not physically touch these guys. And these guys know it. They come as close to the police as they can, getting up at them and screaming nasty nasty things, about them in particular, about the police in general, filming them up close. The police don’t flinch. I don’t hear the police yelling. Eventually the police leave,
Such as happened at 2:30 Sunday morning.
There was a loud noise. Something had happened on 1st avenue and a massive amount of police responded. I laid in bed hoping it would stop. Looking out it appeared that whatever had happened on 1st Ave was no longer a problem or was dealt with, it seemed. The police were all on 1st Ave, *not* the encampment on 9th st. I could see and hear them asking over and over simply please step Back onto the curb. No one touched the encamped people, even with that guy back at his usual screaming as explained above. After maybe 30/45 min a decision was made to call off the police. They all backed off except for 1 car on the west side of the avenue with lights off. Then guy goes back to 9th st and starts telling everyone see that’s what you have to do, how you have to behave to keep your turf.
So it’s this cyclical thing now. Neighbors have reason to call 311, police are required to respond. They do so professionally and it sets this guy off for ages. It happens every couple of days and not counting the sweeps.
They don’t want shelter. I don’t blame them but their current space under the scaffolding, on that corner ain’t right either.
2:03pm here - Yes, I do think “menacing” is a vague description. A person can feel menaced by someone screaming, waving a knife or gun at them (and yes, by that definition, I have been menaced, thanks, just not by anyone on this corner). A person can also feel menaced by the mere presence of someone against whom they are prejudiced due to race, class, etc. The first is a legitimate fear, the second is bigotry. To be clear, I am NOT labeling whoever complained to their councilperson a bigot - I have no idea what their “menacing” encounter entailed, and certainly it may have constituted a legitimate threat (I hope not). I’m just saying that what is menacing to one person may not be so to another, and the OP does not offer any kind of description of the “menacing” behavior, which leaves us to assume the worst. And I can’t help but wonder that vague term was used, rather than something more descriptive, for that very purpose: to galvanize fear in a situation where a more precise description might reveal that fear is not warranted.
And yes, you’re correct, I am a male, which does, as I assume was your implication, come with significant privilege in terms of freedom from fear and/or unwanted advances/aggressions in a wide range of situations. However, my girlfriend, who was born and raised and lives within a block of this corner, is just as disgusted by the sweeps as I am, has walked by there countless times without incident, and just this evening stopped by to offer the folks there some warm clothes she was getting rid of, and was met with kindness and thanks. I don’t like to speak for her, but she encouraged me relay her thoughts and experience, in part because her own language upon reading your comment wouldn’t have made it past the censors.
As far as my statements being “sweeping”, I tried to be very careful to point out that I was speaking only from my own experiences and observations, and of those of people I know personally. I would be interested to hear which of my statements you found “sweeping”.
As for the rest of your post: Why are they here and not in front of Gracie Mansion or on the UES? Many reasons I’m sure, but I would guess a big one is that they felt at least slightly less unwelcome here, given that this neighborhood has a long history of activism and empathy with the poor and otherwise marginalized, in large part because its population has a long history of BEING poor and otherwise marginalized. Of course, this is rapidly changing - generally not because the poor have suddenly come into wealth, but through their displacement, either out of sight to other still-poor neighborhoods, or in sight to, say, the corner of 9th & 1st. Judging by the venomous comments on the post, it would seem that tragically, empathy has been displaced in equal measure.
Why am I concerned about the wellbeing of those who are free to menace? Well, I mean, practically speaking, we are all free to menace. The unhoused on the corner of 9th & 1st are free to menace you with their poverty that so degrades your “quality of life” and “threatens the safety” of your cloistered existence (have you mentioned any other way that they have “menaced” you?). Whereas, from your comment, “eff em all, get them OUT OF HERE”, it is clear that you feel free to menace those less fortunate than yourself with threats of eradication. From that perspective, I think I’m rightfully concerned about the “wellbeing” of both parties. Just for very different reasons.
Oy, the long screaming at 4am this Monday morning…we know we have it so much better than them, but also, we want to sleep too.
Anyone who says that these people in this encampment are peaceful is wrong. I've seen several incidents in the past month with women (old and young) walking by and getting verbally assaulted.
I was walking on the opposite side of Ave A about 2 weeks ago and was screamed at, threatened with assault and called homophobic slurs. That's not right, right?
It does seem less rowdy since this incident on Saturday but, neighbors, especially gay men, should definitely avoid 9th and 1st.
MORUS saw your story and just announced that they are throwing a Halloween party at La Plaza in protest of this eviction. To the anonymous anti squatter comment person....... they got 13 buildings worth millions of dollars from the city so who is smarter them or you ?
Oy, the screaming today Tuesday at 11:30.
They were harassing the police who were sitting briefly in a parked car, across 9th street, *not* in front of the encampment.
Screaming, loud foul language about how these officers sitting in the car were. The officers had never left their vehicle to approach them.
The encamped decided to cross the road and approach the police car. A few of them surrounding the front of the vehicle and getting into the faces of the police officers as best they could into the open vehicle window.
That is a great idea. Many people say why aren’t others being helped but there are many really wonderful places working on this, that people can avail themselves of.
Pretty sure that's exactly why one of the signs said apartments not shelters.
My unpopular opinion is that New York City has a parasite problem, and until we remove the ability for private equity to be involved in residential housing, we will forever have to look out for our neighbors sleeping on the sidewalk
EV Grieve thanks for all the neighborhood reporting you all do. Catching up on all the news during a sick spell and this one is particularly painful. I'm really shocked by all the people who don't believe your neighbors. When numerous people say they were harassed, please believe them.
On a recent evening our family's safety was threatened. Late at night we heard a loud noise and voices. Looked out the window to find someone pointing up at us and screaming:
Hey I see you up there...taking photos [we were not, bytheway]...I'm going to come up in your building and [harm] you. You in XXX number building, yeah I'm gonna come in, etc...
While there may be some encamped people there who are not in cahoots with the couple of agitators who seemingly always want to start trouble,
it *doesn't* mean that we, ALSO YOUR NEIGHBORS, shouldn't be believed when we say we have been threatened/harassed.
One month later and the conditions around this encampment have grown worst, the street has been spray painted and the block smells like urine
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