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November 13, 2008
How do I get rid of Crachheads in front of my apartment
For some reason or another my buildings stoop has become a meeting point for crackheads. None of them live in the buidling, yet for some reason they always sit on our stoop. They are constantly drinking/Smoking crack and making a total mess of the area. They constantly pick apart our garbage as well. We have seen them urinate in front of the building numerous times.
I have spoken with everyone in the building and neighbors and no one wants these people around. At the same time most people are scared to do anything about it.
I have started calling the cops but they do not seem to care, even when they arrive and the crackheads are still there.
What can we do to get rid of the crackheads?
Comments
"How do I get rid of Crachheads in front of my apartment"
Well I noticed you said apartment. Well move....
The What (100+ post on this puppy)
Someday this war is gonna end...
Posted by: Return of The What at November 13, 2008 1:19 PM
Bright lights. Problem solved the day you put them up. Unless of course they are daytime crackheads, in which case start washing your stoop frequently so it's always wet.
Posted by: lechacal at November 13, 2008 1:27 PM
I once lived in an apartment over a store on 5th Avenue. When the stores closed the drug dealers used the street benches on the corner to sell. Cars with loud radios were there all night. I went to the local State Senator's office and they told me they would call their contact at the local precinct.
I also called the precinct on my own and was given the name and number of the Community "POP" officer for my area. I forgot what that stands for but what those officers do is handle Quality of Life issues.
And you can also call and ask to speak to an officer on the narcotics squad directly rather than just make a general complaint. A few weeks after after the cops chased away the dealers they opened a small storefront on a side street called "The ZigZag Store" complete with two-way mirrors. I called the Narc Squad and none of them knew that ZigZag was a brand of rolling paper - DUH! The store was closed within a week of my calling and the dealers moved to another corner.
In another building I lived in a prostitution ring rented a ground floor apartment and opened a brothel! I called the precinct and my call was transferred over to someone in the Vice Squad. The apartment was raided and the brothel gone in two days.
This all happens in Bay Ridge!
Posted by: premadas at November 13, 2008 1:40 PM
I forgot to add that all you have to do is tell the cops that you beleive they are dealing drugs on your stoop and your complaint will be taken alot more seriously that if you just say that kids are hanging out getting high and making a mess.
Posted by: premadas at November 13, 2008 1:44 PM
Great stories premados.
My inclination has always been to pour liquids from the roof, but have never had the guts to actually do it.
Also, I think you could try a "no loitering" or "no trespassing" sign. My understanding is that it is not trespassing until you have been asked to leave.
So if you call the cops and the guys are on the stoop they can't arrest for trespassing as they haven't been asked to leave. When "no trespassing" is posted, then the crackheads are already trespassing just by ignoring the sign and can be picked up for it.
I am not a lawyer. And this is all of course theoretical -- no telling whether the cops will act or not.
Posted by: phripley at November 13, 2008 1:50 PM
premadas- where was that apartment building with the brothel? I think I lived in that building. LONG STORY. Was it on 2nd st in the East Village?
Posted by: Adam Dahill at November 13, 2008 2:00 PM
I had the very same problem on Classon Ave a couple of years ago when I lived opposite a *hotel*. I was very active for a while, attending community council meetings, writing letters, passing around a petition, etc. I think it helped, but I had to be very persistent. The community council meetings are the best place to start. They happen once a month (call your precinct for the info). Take some neighbors with you if you can. The more people who speak up about it the better. Also, DO keep calling 911 even if you think it's not helping -- and tell your neighbors to call too. Those calls are documented/tracked and if it looks like they're spiking in a certain area they'll presumably send more beat cops.
Posted by: herkimer at November 13, 2008 2:02 PM
We had a hard time on our block even w/ the CPOP help. We had to keep diaries of when we saw what kind of activity - from noisy gatherings, cars pulling up at all hours, copper pipe being carried out of a construction site, etc. I'd keep phoning the precinct but in the interim, you & neighbors might start keeping diaries to bolster your claims.
Posted by: Arkady at November 13, 2008 2:03 PM
Go to your precinct's next community council meeting en masse. You do not have to speak publicly. You can speak to the precinct Inspector directly. There are a number of things that can then be done but do not lie and say that they are dealing drugs in front of the building if you do not think this is the case. Make sure that you let your landlord know and get them onboard. Take the landlord's contact information and if possible a letter from them giving the police permission to place the building under their program that allows them to make sweeps of the public spaces in the private building and charge anyone on the premises without permission with trespass. Of course if they have drugs on them they will be charged accordingly. In addition you can press your landlord to install surveillance cameras.
If there is drug dealing instead of crackheads hanging out, it will take longer to remedy but the process is pretty much the same except that the police will refer it to narcotics who will send in undercover cops.
Posted by: Just Wondering at November 13, 2008 2:39 PM
Stoop washing has been a tried and true method of helping to relocate undesirables. In this day and age, an automatic sprinkler, perhaps?
Posted by: BrooklynIsHome at November 13, 2008 2:42 PM
Stoop washing has been a tried and true method of helping to relocate undesirables. In this day and age, an automatic sprinkler, perhaps?
Posted by: BrooklynIsHome at November 13, 2008 2:42 PM
Thanks for the info. There is 3 of them, but one woman in particular who is there half the day. She knows I call 911 so she disappears when she sees me but than appears half hour later after the cops show up and leave. I know calling 911 will eventually register and I have asked the neighbors and my building to follow suit.
I like the idea of pouring water on the spot.
Posted by: Watermellon at November 13, 2008 2:53 PM
Adam,
The building was on 4th Ave and 82nd Street in Bay Ridge.
They were only open for a few weeks. It looked suspicious because once I saw a few under-dressed Russian women hanging out in the lobby smoking, but I was at work all day and didn't hear or see much because I lived on the 6th floor. Then, an angry John took a baseball bat and smashed in the doorbell intercom system when they would't let him in one night. Everyone kept complaining to the building owner who did nothing except order a new intercom system. I called the cops who were amazed that no one had called sooner. I was even more surprised at how fast they raided and closed it.
Posted by: premadas at November 13, 2008 2:59 PM
Can you put a gate on your steps (I see that in the Village and in high traffic areas in Brooklyn)?
Posted by: Putnamdenizen at November 13, 2008 3:04 PM
You could try scaring them off with punctuation!
Seriously, though: water. Don't pour it on anyone (no really. don't.) but as soon as they leave dump a bucket of water out on the stoop (hot and soapy if they've been pissing).
Posted by: serpentor at November 13, 2008 3:21 PM
Pu up gate for the stoop and put up no trespassing sign.
Then cops can do something.
Posted by: Petebklyn at November 13, 2008 3:24 PM
The cops will not arrest anyone for trespassing in a private building without the permission of the landlord or their representative, even if a sign is posted. The gate may keep them out though. If you don't want to wait for the next Council meeting just make an appointment to go over and speak to the Inspector.
Posted by: Just Wondering at November 13, 2008 3:51 PM
get a pitbull. im telling you, crackheads are TERRIFIED of pitbulls.. i know, i lived in harlem.
-rob
Posted by: PitbullNYC at November 13, 2008 3:53 PM
Just brainstorming here:
-- Try some electric fence. The little hard-to-see strands.
-- Strew some tacks all over the stoop. Again, the harder to see the better.
-- Play Alvin and the Chipmunks really loud.
-- A little ultraviolence can go a long way.
-- Do the thing they did in E.T. with Reeses Pieces, but with little crack rocks heading to the East River.
-- Paint your stoop hot pink.
-- Sell your place to them (hook them up with a no-doc pay option ARM) and move to the Slope.
Posted by: lechacal at November 13, 2008 4:11 PM
Oh. My story is equally crazy. I don't have the time to go into full details but the short of it goes as follows....
I sublet a ground floor apartment on E. 2nd St btwn 1st and 2nd street to a guy named Ken who in turned furnished and started renting it out on an weekly basis. He put in a transsexual prostitute how had chopped the place up into 4 small rooms and had other tranny's doing tricks all hours of the night. They would sit at the front window and solicit johns from the street.
This is just around the corner from Lucky Cheungs FYI.
Posted by: Adam Dahill at November 13, 2008 4:21 PM
Throw crack accross the street.
Posted by: DOW8000SP800 at November 13, 2008 11:04 PM
Clorox is a great deterrent - not when folks are there, but it's hard to sit around a place with a pungent bleach smell. Pour out a bottle every other night for awhile when they're not there - sort of an environmental approach as opposed to the police who may or may not be helpful, and certainly not to your visitors. What do they say when you talk with them? Have had some success that way as well.
Posted by: riis10 at November 13, 2008 11:06 PM
Hate to say it, but make your building as annoying as possible with signs and mild threats so they become someone else's problem. EVERY time you see them, you have to hassle them. Be relentless.
No water! They'll just retaliate by breaking your front door or something.
Posted by: pattunia at November 14, 2008 3:32 AM
I called the cops yesterday, spoke with the community affairs officer at the 76th. He was very cool and attentive. I explained the situation and he said he would make sure the beat cops check the spot more often. He also said to call 911 every time we see them there and hopefully something can get done.
I will put up a no trespassing sign as well and see how that works.
I do not talk to the crackheads at all. They are actually very nice, they talk to everyone and even offer sexual 'services' for $10.
Posted by: Watermellon at November 14, 2008 7:19 AM
I just want to say this: The Asshats are going to keep fucking around and someone is going to get hurt! This neighborhood had these problems before you moved in and now by some stroke of magic these things supposed to go away. I suggest Watermelon (Nice racist name BTW) that you leave these "Crackheads" alone. They are desperate and have nothing to lose but you have everything to lose and when one of them get a hold of you, GOD help your ass.
Keep fucking around is my new mantra! I hope you like it..
The What
Someday this war is gonna end...
Posted by: Return of The What at November 14, 2008 12:54 PM
My friend had this problem in front of her building and nothing was working; bleach, water, yelling, etc. Finally one day the landlord switched the front door to swing OUTWARD thus constantly hitting whoever happened to be sitting on the stoop when someone left the building. Also they had to move anytime anyone wanted to go in the building. That finally stopped people from hanging out there. Not sure if it will work in your case, but I thought it was genius.
Posted by: newhomer at November 14, 2008 1:09 PM
OK,
Where do you live? I see sketchy behavior and raccoons, but nothing like this.
Posted by: slick at November 15, 2008 5:17 AM
Did you try raising the price of your crack?
Gennaro Brooks-Church
www.EcoBrooklyn.com
Posted by: gennaro at November 15, 2008 11:19 AM
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