An amNewYork Metro investigation into rampant drug abuse in the Garment District, a sad situation that local residents and workers say has left the neighborhood tattered, has prompted NYPD action.
NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Operations Kaz Daughtry told amNewYork Metro that cops are looking to help clean up the community and get assistance to substance abusers on the streets.
On Oct. 16, amNY investigated claims from locals that the Garment District is suffering from a human rights crisis in which those living with street homelessness and substance abuse issues are often found lying on the sidewalk with needles sticking out of their arms or completely unconscious.
“It’s every day. Sometimes, they have the needle in the chest and in the arm. You know, people from different countries come to visit New York and they see all these kinds of things. I say, ‘oh my god,’ so the tourists must be shocked,” local worker Carlos Hernandez said.
Daughtry says he has heard concerns from those who live and work in the area and is taking action to address the issues.
This weekend, amNewYork Metro exclusively followed members of the NYPD Public Safety Team as they combed over the streets of the Garment District, checking in on those who appeared to be suffering from drug addictions or a mental health crisis.
The officers performing the patrols explained that they were not looking to make any arrests but, instead, to ensure that those with drug dependence issues were not harming themselves or anyone else.
Public Safety Team members approached people slumped in doorways and left spread out on the pavement, engaged them in conversation, and offered medical attention. While making a concerted effort to clean up the neighborhood, Daughtry looked to remind the public that those toiling on the street are victims too and need to be handled with care.
“These people need mental help, they have mental health issues. I want our guys to be patient and offer them the services that the city has to provide for them. I got so many calls that, ‘Oh, they’re junkies all around the place,’ I try to explain to people that are calling from the businesses that these people need help, and our job as an agency is to try to help those people with the lightest touch possible,” Daughtry said. “It is just trying to find a happy medium between making the person who is giving us the complaints happy, and just to offer them [the substance abuse users] the services that the city has to provide for them.”
Daughtry stressed the unhoused substance abusers loitering on the streets are often not committing a crime and only pose a danger to themselves rather than to the rest of the public at large. Just arresting them, he noted, does not solve the problem.
“We can’t arrest our way out of this situation; we want to bring them to the hospital to give them the help that they need. And that’s the intent,” Daughtry said.
In the days ahead, Daughtry noted, representatives of the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene will also converge upon the Garment District to offer services to people in need.
With boots on the ground each day, he says he believes the issue will be alleviated — but he urged the public to work with police to have such quality of life issues addressed.
“Let me know the complaints, let me know the issue. Let us know where we need to be at and I’ll get that message to the team. This is going to be every single day. Like the vendors on Canal Street, eventually they’re going to go away,” Daughtry said. “The ultimate goal here is just to be patient. This takes time.”
