July 14, 2007: Vol. 30, No. 27
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del.icio.usA homeless outreach center — which sparked complaints of drug-addicts shooting up on brownstone stoops and homeless people using vestibules as toilets — is moving to a less-populated street.
The Salvation Army “drop-in center,” at 39 Bond St., between Livingston and State streets, Downtown, will move within the next month to Tillary and Gold streets, according to Laura DeBuys, a spokeswoman for the Salvation Army, which operates the center for the city’s Department of Homeless Services.
“We have a facility better suited for the program,” said DeBuys of the site, which is around the corner from several hundreds units of luxury condos that are now under construction.
The move away from Bond Street will come as welcome news to residents of nearby State Street, a couple of whom showed up at a recent 84th Precinct Community Council meeting to complain.
“We’ve had an up-tick in crime on State, between Hoyt and Bond, which most people attribute to the intake center,” said John Fischer, a State Street resident.
“One woman found a guy in her entryway shooting up drugs, another found someone using the vestibule as a bathroom. The glassine envelopes are back on the sidewalks. People are using our stoops to do drugs.”
The 24-hour drop-in center has been around since 1997, and offers three meals a day, entitlement assistance, recreation, individual and group therapy, and job placement services.
DeBuys said she only started hearing complaints recently: “The neighborhood has changed over the years.”
Her comments stand in stark contrast to those of another neighbor, Crispin Rover, half of the couple that found the man shooting up in the vestibule. He said the center has been a problem for years.
“The police response is very good,” said Rover. “But because of the drop-in center, there’s a lot of homeless, mentally ill people. It’s gotten much worse over the past three years.”
Police said they’re aware of the illegal behavior.
“We are there constantly,” said Lt. Gary Williams of the 84th Precinct. “We make arrests every week.”
Fortunately for cops at the 84th Precinct, the new site for the drop-in center is directly next door to their Gold Street stationhouse.
©2007 The Brooklyn Paper
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