Some residents say the growing number of homeless people taking up residence at the Sheepshead Bay Road train station are being rerouted there from Brighton Beach.
The Q and B train station has become a haven for the indigent, and locals say the people living outside the station are adding congestion to an already busy, narrow area.
“It has gone from six, to eight, to nine, and now, maybe to 11,” said Bruce Rothman, a community activist.
Rothman blames a recent push to enforce curfews at parks in the area for driving the homeless to the Sheepshead Bay station.
“The idea is to move them along, move them along,” he said. “But where do you stop?”
Councilman Chaim Deutsch (D–Sheepshead Bay) said he has been working closely with Common Ground, an organization that aids the indigent, and the Department of Homeless Services to reduce the number of homeless people in Brighton Beach and Sheepshead Bay.
In Brighton Beach, the boardwalk pavilion now closes at 10 pm. After that, according to Deutsch, employees from Common Ground and the city patrol the area for homeless people to remove them and help connect them with city aid and shelters.
The stepped up enforcement may be causing some of the indigent to migrate to the Sheepshead Bay train station, but Deutsch said the outreach has already helped several Brighton Beach regulars find housing, and promises it will eventually get even more homeless people off the streets.
“We were able to get two people into shelters,” Deutsch said, adding three others have found their own living arrangements. “Nothing happens overnight.”
Next week, Deutsch said he is meeting with Transit Police officials to discuss the Sheepshead Bay train station’s situation and he asked residents to be patient.
“We’re not always successful right away,” he said. “It takes time.”
But as the weather gets cooler, Rothman said he hopes a long-term solution for the homeless at the train station is found soon.
“You don’t want to be living outside when it is 14 degrees,” he said.
