The NY Post carried an article on an attack near Forsyth Street (near Stanton Street) across from Sara Roosevelt Park.
A woman in her 50’s was beaten unconscious early Saturday at around 6 a.m. at the corner of Forsyth and Stanton Streets on the Lower East Side. She is apparently in stable condition.
The attacker ran but he was caught in a nearby deli. “The police found he was carrying 11 small ziplock bags of marijuana.”
We send our best wishes for the woman who was attacked with hopes of a speedy recovery.
This area has become a hotbed of drug selling, K2 in particular. Park goers and nearby residents have been threatened and harassed by drug dealers here. It’s becoming the 1980’s all over again.
We have vulnerable populations here: elders, children, high school students, a housing project with deaf residents, and a homeless population that is vulnerable to abuse from drug dealers. We can’t afford to have a drug problem making this worse for people who are already struggling.
We appreciate Park’s Department moving ahead on the bathrooms for Stanton Street. But much much more is needed now.
Park’s Department needs to turn over the Stanton Street Park building to public use.
We know how to turn this around:
- Have the building occupied and active 24/7
- Remove the cargo container alongside it (that holds overflow storage) where illicit activity happens day and night
- Have 24/7 security and maintenance for the bathrooms
- Create an RFP for a local not-for-profit to run, program and organize the “Stanton Center” The local not-for-profit coordinates shared space for:
- A homeless outreach unit from a reputable homeless aide organization daytimes
- And a resiliency hub/education center to be run by a reputable resiliency organization daytimes
- And an after-school for the local high schools use early evenings
- And community meeting space evenings
We have been saying this, asking for this, since 1994.
We think it is long past time Park’s listened to us.
