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Residents in Sheepshead Bay and Brighton Beach are raising concerns about quality-of-life issues in their neighborhood, particularly under the Coney Island Avenue overpass.
Litter and encampments have taken over the overpass off of Exit 8 on the Belt Parkway. Residents say it's been an issue for years.
“I pass through this area every day, and I see a lot of people drinking, doing drugs, just hanging around," said Vlad, an area resident. "People who live in this area don't feel safe because nobody is doing anything about this.”
A homeless rights advocate says the recent administration changes could allow more homeless people to find safe places to stay.
“What we saw from the Adams sweeps is that they were completely ineffective," said Kathryn Kliff, a staff attorney with the Homeless Rights Project at the Legal Aid Society. "People just came back or they went somewhere else, even more dangerous."
She also said individuals should try speaking to the outreach workers to see what services they can offer because it may be different than what was being offered before.
City Council Member Inna Vernikov's office released a statement about the issue in her district:
"The surrounding community and individuals facing homelessness deserve better than this. Our neighborhoods deserve cleanliness and safety, not trash and encampments in the middle of residential neighborhoods. Our homeless deserve dignity and the ability to shower, eat a hot meal, sleep on a bed and have access to medication. For over a year, Councilwoman Vernikov and her office has used every tool at her disposal to get the relevant agencies to improve this quality of life issue for the neighborhood, and also the individuals facing homelessness. Under Mayor Adams, there was at least the option of removing the encampments, with DSNY involvement to get the area cleaned up. Mayor Mamdani has removed this tool, but we’re a step ahead of him. For months, the Councilwoman has been working with DOT to get a fence put up. As of last month, the fence is in the procurement stage. This fence will not only serve as a deterrent, but will trigger an arrest should any individuals trespass onto the property.
A timeline for when the fence would go up is currently unclear.
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