We walked on 14th Street between Avenue A and First Avenue this morning around 7:30, when people typically start selling random items — including dented canned goods, rusted tools, soiled clothing and forgotten DVD titles — from sheets and blankets on the sidewalk.
Depending on the weather, up to a dozen people can be selling items.
The block was empty this morning except for the longtime fruit vendor who set up near Trader Joe's.
At Immaculate Conception Church, the weekly Saturday flea market was getting underway inside the grounds. (Local elected officials have asked the Archdiocese and the church to end the flea market, though to date, they have not heeded the requests.)
We saw two NYPD officers on foot patrol. As previously mentioned, there are also
the two NYPD light towers on the south side of the street.
Police arrested a suspect, 30-year-old Alejandro Piedra, who was later charged with murder with depraved indifference and attempted murder with depraved indifference, according to the NYPD and media accounts. Police said Piedra allegedly killed 38-year-old Clemson Cockfield and injured his wife, 52-year-old Jennifer Cockfield, as well as another man, 32-year-old Jonathan Lopez.
During a police briefing on Tuesday, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said all three victims sell second-hand items along this block.
The sidewalk sales are just one of the activities that residents have cited through the years along this problematic block, quality-of-life issues that include drug trafficking, early morning prostitution, and a growing unhoused population in need of city services.
Residents here are hopeful the changes that have occurred in the past week will become permanent.
Meanwhile, someone launched a website titled
Carlina From the Block, documenting what has happened since the deadly fight last Sunday ... and calling out the District 2 City Councilmember for not taking more action on 14th Street over the past seven years.
Previously on EV Grieve:
