Police Raid Notorious Clinton Hill Drug and Gun Hotspot, Nab Dozens: Tipster

Could this finally be the end of decades of criminal activity centered around Grand Avenue and Clifton Place in Clinton Hill?

Police raided two buildings in the area and arrested dozens of suspects around 5 am Thursday morning, according to a Brownstoner tipster. One of the buildings, on Clifton Place, is allegedly owned by the same folks who ran the Clean Society Cleaners on the corner of Grand and Clifton Place that was shut down by police in 2014, according to our informant. The other building was on Classon.

The tipster said that there were more than a dozen arrests — possibly as many as 30. The house on Clifton Place “is like the last hold out in Clinton Hill,” he said.

There have been shootings, reports of open-air drug dealing and raids in the area for more than a decade, including the murder of beloved longtime Grand Avenue resident Gilbert Kelly in 2014.

A shooting in 2015 prompted an open letter to the district attorney, who had just moved to the neighborhood, followed by a town hall meeting convened by Public Advocate Letitia James, also a Clinton Hill resident.

Related Stories

• Cleaners on Grand Avenue, Site of Shooting, Shuttered by Court Order
• Breaking! Drug Raid at 417 Grand Avenue, Officers Injured, Ambulances on Scene
• Suspect Arrested in Last Month’s Grand Avenue Murder Just as Another Shooting Happens

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