Rep. Ritchie Torres sounds alarm over "open-air drug market" in the Bronx
NEW YORK — Congressman Ritchie Torres is sounding the alarm over a single block in the Bronx that he describes as an "open-air drug market."
He wants the city and police to clean up Melrose Avenue between East 149th and 150th streets.
"You could be forgiven for thinking that we had turned the clock back to the 1990s and 1980s," Torres said.
"It's like hell on Earth"
CBS News New York's Doug Williams visited the block Wednesday afternoon and only witnessed traffic cops and one New York City Police Department patrol van that drove by without stopping.
"It's like hell on Earth," Bronx resident Wendy Perez said. "They need to clean the streets up for the kids ... You see the kids, and look. Look at what they gotta walk by,"
"You ever see police making arrests?" Williams asked.
"They come, they always come after the problem. After everything is done, that's when they come," Perez said.
A man was seemingly unconscious outside of a store owned by Hassan Ismail.
"The police don't come, the city don't come, unless we have to call, like, three or four times," Ismail said. "Then the police come for five minutes, they let them go. Go, go, then, 10, 15 minutes after the police left, they start coming back."
Rep. Torres wants city to dismantle "open-air drug market" in the Bronx
CBS News New York reached out to City Hall, who did not address the area specifically, saying, "We are aware of the concerns Congressman Torres raised in his letter and look forward to partnering with him to ensure a safer, more livable city for all New Yorkers."
Torres said he received the same statement.
"I mean, I'm happy they want to work with me, but, like, he mayor, the city, runs the police department. They run the health department. They should deploy police and health officials to dismantle the open-air drug market," he said.