Could drugs — and drug crime — be returning to Downtown?
That’s the concern of residents of the 84th Precinct, a once-crime-ridden area that has seen massive decreases in violence in recent years.
Some residents are concerned by a recent increase in drug activity. And, indeed, there were six robberies reported last week, up from two during the same period last year.
“It’s still not like the bad old days,” said Leslie Lewis, president of the 84th Precinct Community Council, a group that acts as a liaison between cops and residents.
“But I’ve been seeing needles laying around and people hanging out on street corners all day long.”
At the Council’s regular meeting on Tuesday, Lewis told a detective from the Brooklyn North narcotics division that much of the new drug activity seems to be centered around the corner of Third and Atlantic avenues, and on State Street between Bond and Hoyt streets.
The latter hotspot was once around the corner from a notorious homeless drop-in center that recently moved a few blocks north — across the street from the 84th Precinct stationhouse.
