{"id":53264,"date":"2025-07-10T05:08:16","date_gmt":"2025-07-10T05:08:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/53264\/"},"modified":"2025-07-10T05:08:16","modified_gmt":"2025-07-10T05:08:16","slug":"business-as-usual-at-the-grimy-drug-infested-broadway-of-the-bronx-worst-ive-ever-seen-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/53264\/","title":{"rendered":"Business as usual at the grimy, drug-infested ‘Broadway of the Bronx:’ ‘Worst I’ve ever seen it’"},"content":{"rendered":"

A seedy South Bronx neighborhood dubbed the \u201cBroadway of the Bronx\u201d remains a grimy, trash-strewn nightmare, crawling with garbage, strung-out junkies and used syringes \u2014 more than a year after The Post blew the whistle<\/a> on the unsightly \u201cHub.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the worst I\u2019ve ever seen it,\u201d neighborhood resident Margarita Rivera, a 70-year-old retired teacher, said Wednesday. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is called the Roberto Clemente Plaza. It\u2019s in his honor. He must be turning over in his grave,\u201d she said of the baseball great. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s disgusting. It\u2019s horrible, horrible. I try not to walk by here anymore. I don\u2019t even come here to shop anymore. I avoid this area.\u201d<\/p>\n

More than a year after The Post exposed the junkie infested \u201cHub\u201d in the Bronx, locals say things are worse than ever. Luiz C. Ribeiro for New York Post<\/p>\n

A 50-year-old local store maintenance worker identifying himself only as Mamadou said he has to keep a close eye on the neighborhood junkies, who have a tendency to relieve themselves in and around his store.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey pee and they poop over there,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019re around my store, the exit area. Every day I have to clean around there. If they don\u2019t see anybody they poop on the escalator.<\/p>\n

US Rep. Ritchie Torres says things are so bad in the \u201cHub\u201d that as many as 20 overdoses are reported in a week. Luiz C. Ribeiro for New York Post<\/p>\n

NYPD cops patrol the \u201cBroadway of the Bronx\u201d and keep tabs on drug use in the area, but problems persist. Luiz C. Ribeiro for New York Post<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re crazy people. They drink, they smoke, they use needles,\u201d he added. \u201cOh, it\u2019s too much, it\u2019s too much. The ambulance comes there every day and take people who fall on the ground and can\u2019t get up.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Post, which exposed the unkempt neighborhood in a report last year, revisited the area after a troubling report on the commercial hub was released Wednesday<\/a> by US Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-Bronx).<\/p>\n

\u201cThe City of New York has fundamentally failed to deliver a durable solution to a crisis that continues to spiral out of control,\u201d he said. \u201cThe city\u2019s response has amounted to little more than a game of whack-a-mole \u2014 briefly suppressing illicit activity, only for the drug market to re-emerge with greater intensity.\u201d<\/p>\n

US Rep. Ritchie Torres\u2019 new report on the \u201cBroadway of the Bronx\u201d exposed continuing problems in the neighborhood. Matthew McDermott<\/p>\n

According to Torres\u2019 report, the neighborhood sees as many as 20 drug overdoses in a week, with zonked-out junkies using Roberto Clemente Park as a waiting room for Daytop Village, a nearby drug treatment provider on the block. <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, used syringes litter the sidewalks and career drug offenders roam the streets. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe plaza needs a complete reset,\u201d said Pedro Suarez, executive director of the Third Avenue Business Improvement District. \u201cThe drug dealers don\u2019t even have to try hard. It\u2019s a captive audience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Deputy Mayor Camille Joseph Varlack (in black) and Public Safety Deputy Mayor Kay Daughtry visit the troubled \u201cHub\u201d in the Bronx with NYPD officers on Wednesday. Luiz C. Ribeiro for New York Post<\/p>\n

Despite a series of promised enforcement efforts, the issues appear unchecked \u2014 and even have city and state lawmakers each pointing the finger at one another.<\/p>\n

Local leaders said the blame falls on both city and state lawmakers, who have failed to adequately address the dilemma.<\/p>\n

The state Office of Addiction Services and Supports has approved too many licenses for drug treatment facilities that are concentrated in The Hub, oversaturating the area with addicts, according to City Councilman Rafael Salamanca, who represents the area.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe state has to take responsibility for this,\u201d Salamanca said.<\/p>\n

But State Assemblywoman Amanda Septimo, who also represents The Hub, said it\u2019s \u201ca zoning matter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zonked-out junkies have begun using Robert Clemente Plaza as a waiting room for a local drug treatment facility. Luiz C. Ribeiro for New York Post<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is the heart of the issue,\u201d she said. \u201cYou can\u2019t police your\u00a0way out of this problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

NYPD cops did show up in the neighborhood Wednesday and conduct periodic patrols, but city officials said the issue clearly needs more extensive attention. <\/p>\n

The area between Melrose and Mott avenues encompasses more than 300 storefronts and 50 commercial properties, and draws over 3.3 million visitors a year \u2014 yet has a vacancy rate of 15%, according to Torres\u2019 report. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact of the matter is is we put these community links in place\u00a0and then periodically we come through to make sure everything is happening as it is and where there are challenges we have to whether or not we need to intense our efforts,\u201d Deputy Mayor for City Administration Camille Varlack said during a visit to the area on Wednesday. <\/p>\n

Public Safety Deputy Mayor Kay Daughtry said the city has addressed problems at the \u201cHub\u201d in the Bronx, but admitted more needs to be done. Luiz C. Ribeiro for New York Post<\/p>\n

\u201cClearly, we need to intensify our efforts here,\u201d Varlack said. \u201cThe team is going back, we are going to refresh the plan, some resources and we\u2019re going to be back out here.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBut this is the worst.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, Deputy Mayor of Operations Kaz Daughtry disagreed with Torres\u2019 assessment of the area.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s completely not true,\u201d he said. \u201cThis administration, we hear the congressman\u2018s concern, but I wouldn\u2019t say that we definitely relinquished the area to drug dealers, that\u2019s completely not true.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gov. Kathy Hochul\u2019s office, meanwhile, said she has sent significant support to the city to fix the neighborhood\u2019s issues. <\/p>\n

\u201cGovernor Hochul has provided significant resources and support to the City of New York as they work to reduce crime and has worked with the Legislature to crack down on repeat offenders, further expanded the types of cases where judges have the discretion to set bail, and made essential changes to the pre-trial discovery process to support survivors of crime and hold perpetrators accountable,\u201d a Hochul spokesperson said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A seedy South Bronx neighborhood dubbed the \u201cBroadway of the Bronx\u201d remains a grimy, trash-strewn nightmare, crawling with…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":53265,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,5310,10000,14872,5248,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,38451,5305,67,586,132,5230,68,1154,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-53264","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-city-council","10":"tag-drug","11":"tag-drug-overdoses","12":"tag-metro","13":"tag-new-york","14":"tag-new-york-city","15":"tag-newyork","16":"tag-newyorkcity","17":"tag-ny","18":"tag-nyc","19":"tag-ritchie-torres","20":"tag-the-bronx","21":"tag-united-states","22":"tag-united-states-of-america","23":"tag-unitedstates","24":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","25":"tag-us","26":"tag-us-news","27":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114827212266713220","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53264","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53264"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53264\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53265"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53264"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}