The violence; the uptick in drug use, and more has nobody to blame other than De Blasio himself.
Drugs; homelessness, and the variant have long been a huge issue in New York City (mostly due to incompetence and refusal to actually address the problem.). But recently residents of Manhattan ‘s Upper West Side have found that they’ve become the epicentre of Manhattan ‘s latest problem sparked in part by the pandemic.
Last week, Mayor De Blasio announced that thousands of homeless people; drug addicts, sex offenders, and those in between would be housed in some of Manhattan ‘s most luxurious hotels.
Any logical person would consider this a grand idea in hopes that the Mayor and city officials actually address it in a long-term permanent basis instead of a few weeks or even a few months. But, er, that actually isn’t the case and joins the Mayor ‘s long list of failures over the last several years.
While initially it seemed like a grand scheme to get people out of crowded shelters and avoid knocking paths with the Coronavirus — it instead has created a Wild West scene on the West Side. Residents have complained to the New York Post of strong drug use; violent crime (a man was randomly stabbed on Thursday), another was violently punched while having lunch with his wife, a 3rd overdosed in a Duane Reade off of Broadway.
In case it couldn’t get any worse, De Blasio has housed at least 10 registered sex offenders at Hotel Belleclaire which is all of one block from one of the neighbourhood’s major playgrounds. Many residents are furious that nobody in government; the DHS, or even an ordinary person decided to have a community sit-down and actually speak about this before the neighbourhood was overrun.
Whilst the area certainly had its problems before, several residents say that the problems intensified after De Blasio placed homeless folks from shelters further into the area. The Lucerne, for example, is one of many hotels that particularly houses explicitly sex offenders (as does the Belleclaire.) By technicality, De Blasio broke the law by placing said sex offenders quite literally within walking feet of a playground.
To illustrate De Blasio ‘s latest self-inflicted problem, we’ve dispatched photographers to the Upper West Side to photograph how he’s worsened the problem without actually addressing it. The apparent hotel contract is up in October, but the Mayor ‘s office wouldn’t address the fact there are sex offenders illegally within feet of a playground/school.
This article may not directly reflect the thoughts or opinions of The Daily News as a whole and are the direct opinions or thoughts of the author in question.
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