Queens locals have been alarmed by homeless folks organising encampments on Whitney Avenue in Elmhurst.
Helayne Seidman
At the least 5 homeless folks have turned a stretch of Whitney Avenue in Elmhurst, Queens into an city tenting floor.
The encampment has persevered for 2 years — with the town taking no motion, regardless of 41 complaints made via 311 since Jan. 1, 2020.
“Everyone complains. It’s too soiled. Generally Sanitation comes, generally they don’t. In the event that they don’t come, it’s a multitude,” Steven Li, 45, supervisor of close by Getting Nicely Rx Pharmacy Inc., stated.
Littered alongside the sidewalk, gutter, and road are baggage of trash, garments, workplace chairs, a buying cart and milk crates.
The encampment popped up across the begin of the pandemic, Li stated. “We name [the police] so many instances. The cops don’t come. They informed us, ‘What can we do?'”
Li’s store borders the avenue — and he stated his landlord needed to lock up a connecting stairwell after the homeless used it “as a rest room,” making deliveries tough and inconveniencing clients.
Town Division of Homeless Companies didn’t return a request for remark.
On a current Thursday morning, a metropolis homeless outreach employee checked on the tent occupants, with out taking any obvious motion.
One of many homeless males, Elvis Martinez, 45, confirmed to The Put up they’d been residing there for 2 years with out being made to interrupt camp.
“It’s secure. We’re doing alright,” he stated, as he sat in his tent with a number of associates and his companion Sandra, with whom he shares two small canine.
Martinez stated metropolis staff have repeatedly pressed them to enter a shelter — which he claimed he needs to do, as soon as the 2 pooches get all their required photographs.
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