Mayor's Office Facing NYC Drug Crisis Spilling Out Into Streets, Parks
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - From a crackdown on K2 overdoses on Brooklyn sidewalks, to syringes littering a Bronx park, New York City's drug crisis has been on full view this week.
The question is: What is City Hall doing about it?
"We don't want anybody in the city having to see that or experience that," said Mayor de Blasio when confronted with photos of the problem. "We don't want children, seniors, anyone to have to go through that."
While the city will be installing dozens of syringe disposal kiosks in Bronx Parks soon, it's unclear if addicts will use them - and the mayor admits the problem goes beyond dirty needles, reports CBS2's Hazel Sanchez.
City workers were seen yesterday cleaning Saint Mary's Park in the Mott Haven section of the Bronx, looking for the needles and drug paraphernalia scattered about for anyone to come across.
The proposed drop boxes for needles was already set up in Washington Square Park two years ago.
Over in Brooklyn, the drug problem is more driven by the resurgence of a dangerous batch of K2 synthetic marijuana that left the NYPD dealing with more than 50 overdoses and at least a dozen arrests over the weekend. People were literally stumbling all over the street.
"This situation in Brooklyn is being addressed very aggressively too," said de Blasio. "It comes down to a small number of dealers. It comes down to some particular locations. And we made clear that if stores actually are the centerpiece of this drug dealing. We're going to close them down."
The mayor says the city's drug abuse problem is deep seeded and will need more than just the help of law enforcement - a strategy many New Yorkers also see.
"People don't care," said Abdullah Freeman, a resident of Mott Haven. "As long as they doing their thing, it's going to continue.
"I think the city needs more programs to reach out to the people, give the people some assistance," he said.
"Those individuals who are using drugs in that park, they need help they need treatment (and) we need to get to them," said de Blasio.