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'The Block' is suddenly empty

Saturday, October 17, 2009

(Updated 8:11 am)

By Lorraine Ahearn
Staff Writer

GREENSBORO — The sidewalk known as “The Block,” the city’s most visible magnet for loitering and public drinking for 20 years, has just been cleaned up — in one week.

At the corner of South Eugene and Lee streets near Greensboro Urban Ministry this week, police began 30-minute patrols to clear the area of loiterers in response to neighbors’ complaints.

The action comes after the city removed a set of artistic benches Oct. 2 from the adjacent Downtown Greenway, following residents’ complaints of lewd acts and drinking within view of their kitchen windows.

Homeowners along Bilbro Street said they have long watched their property values plummet because of the crime and neglect that engulfs them.

They were quick to point to the epicenter of the problem: the sidewalk that runs past HealthServe clinic, a strip known as “The Block.”

Earlier this week, Greensboro Police Chief Tim Bellamy met with Warnersville residents and ordered stepped-up enforcement. The officers have made no arrests.

“Most of these people are down on their luck and are not looking to cause problems,” said Capt. Wayne Scott, district commander, noting that the presence of the shelter and the soup kitchen makes the sidewalk a natural gathering place.

“It’s just the sheer numbers. If we don’t come by every 45 minutes, they come back.”

The manager of the Fastmart next door at the intersection said the loitering problem has hurt her family’s business.

“Our customers are scared. People bugging them for money. People fighting, coming in stealing,” said Sun Post, whose sister owns the store.
“If we only call the police once or twice in a day, that’s a lucky day.”

Joseph Holliness, a store customer who is staying at Weaver House shelter, said in previous years The Block was a place where employers looked for day laborers. No longer.

“It was one thing to stand there and wait for work,” said Holliness. “But it looks bad for them to stand out there and drink. If I had a business, I wouldn’t want it.”

Friday afternoon during what usually would have been prime time on The Block, Officer A.M. Anderson and Cpl. H.W. Gill surveyed a vacant sidewalk after a week of enforcement.

At the Interactive Resource Center across town at East Bessemer, a manager said some familiar faces had begun to turn up from The Block, although the change in weather could have been a factor.

But no one seemed to believe that a 20-year phenomenon could be solved in a week.

“Just dispersing people doesn’t change anything. People have to be somewhere,” said Liz Seymour, manager of the day shelter. “It takes a person a long time to get to the point where they’re standing out there all day. It takes as much time and work to get out of that as it does to get into it. It’s the same thing with The Block.”

Contact Lorraine Ahearn at 373-7334 or lorraine.ahearn@news-record.com

Accompanying Photos

Joseph Rodriguez (News & Record)

Photo Caption: Outside the Fast Mart at the corner of South Eugene and West Lee streets on Friday.

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ryanshell

October 17, 2009 - 8:45 am EDT

It is unfortunate that the GPD couldn't take action against this long standing problem before the benches were removed. It would be helpful for the public to know what truly made the GPD take action because from the outside looking in it appears to take citizens and council members/candidates raising a stink to get something done.

Maybe they can now focus on areas around the Citgo on MLK - another location that has had the same problem for an extremely long time.

Ryan Shell

timflowers

October 17, 2009 - 9:54 am EDT

Loitering and associated activities are, overall, just nuisances. It looks bad but there are much higher priorities for local enforcement. For example, the 5000 block of West Market St has become one of the worst areas in the city for robberies and home invasions. The area looks nice but I'm guessing some of the apartment complexes along Market St aren't being very selective in who they rent to. But, at least there's no loitering!

camelcityman27105

October 17, 2009 - 9:16 pm EDT

Tim, I agree with you 100% ! I always thought that sidewalks and public rights-of-way were exactly that -- PUBLIC. The residents living around the Lee-Eugene intersection should work with the city and advocates to find other solutions to the loitering and unlawful activities instead of having people arrested, many of them for just simply standing on a PUBLIC SIDEWALK. We live in a day and time where people now think that we should arrest anyone for any reason, or so it seems. Before the reign of the GOP following President Johnson's exit in 1969, homeless people in almost every major city had several options for lodging, personal hygiene and general everyday living. Even the ubiquitous YMCA, made famous by the Village People, provided inexpensive weekly lodging to poor people in almost every big city - residents had the freedom to come and leave as they pleased. And you didn't have these kinds of problems back then because the system was more flexible. Sorry to bring the GOP into this, but they are mainly responsible for the present state of affairs within the homeless community today. And until we get back to treating the poor and needy as human beings with dire needs, these problems will continue to surround us.

ryanshell

October 17, 2009 - 10:23 am EDT

Tim, for the area in question in this story... the constant loitering seems to be the backbone of what eventually leads to larger issues.

Ryan Shell

nonparieldolls

October 17, 2009 - 12:12 pm EDT

The problem is the men (and very few women) who congregate outside Urban Ministry get all their needs met pretty much - free food, free clothes, a place to sleep. They don't have a job, so they have plenty of free time. Usually spent trying to cadge some money for drink or drugs, the one thing they don't get at Urban Ministry. I think it's a prime example of what's wrong with just giving someone a handout. There are absolutely no requirements for these folks to do anything but stand around all day. If they have mental health issues or substance/alcohol abuse problems, there's very little being done to address them. They don't seem to get any kind of employment referrals or assistance along the lines of becoming self-sufficient. Maybe I'm wrong, but it almost seems like Urban Ministry is in business to keep these folks where they're at, since it's what keeps Urban Ministry in business. No? Just something to think about.

holland4

October 17, 2009 - 1:12 pm EDT

Breaking up this group would be bad for the "nonprofits" that are on the City's entitlement fund teat. They wouldn't have a ready-made crowd to organize for a march down to city hall to protest funding cuts. It's a cheap photo-op in exchange for a sausage biscuit.

camelcityman27105

October 17, 2009 - 8:46 pm EDT

The Scriptures say that the most despised people are the poor, homeless and needy. Clearing out a street corner in response to neighborhood complaints may be good for appearances, but it really does NOTHING to address the underlying problem. The poor and homeless will always be among us until the end of time, so where, pray tell, are we going to send them and hide them from view? Let's start doing more positive things, such as providing the needy and homeless with more facilities where they can go to during the day, not just one day center that does not adequately address the needs of the homeless community. And if the shelters were to stop kicking people out every day so early in the mornings, that would solve over half the loitering and nuisance problems. But the present conditions were the results of 'compassionate conservatism," which had helped to create this problem nationwide over the last 35 years. There has got to be a better way! Arresting people for simply standing on the sidewalks is not the answer.

holland4

October 17, 2009 - 10:06 pm EDT

You must have missed the part of the article that said, "The officers have made no arrests."

And someone living north of W-S must really know a lot about the situation on S. Eugene and Lee in Greensboro. Yeah, blame it on Republicans.

ryanshell

October 18, 2009 - 12:03 pm EDT

Camel,

I should point out that the day I went to the block to clean up 40oz beer bottles that had been tossed on the ground I spoke to 10 - 15 different guys hanging out on the block... none of them were homeless. Just thought I'd offer that bit of info.

Ryan Shell

timflowers

October 18, 2009 - 12:10 pm EDT

As a former employee at the homeless shelter, in my time there I felt the Urban Ministry did good in spite of itself rather than as a result of it's direct efforts. I was rather disgusted by the attitude of several staff members toward the homeless, and I made my opinion known, but the management didn't seem interested in listening. Eventually some volunteers and myself tried to raise funds to open a new shelter that wouldn't send people out on the streets at daybreak or refuse to serve someone simply because they under 21 or labeled as chronically homeless. Our efforts, unfortunately, failed, but we did generate enough publicity about the homeless situation that other groups eventually sprang up to meet some critical needs.

Many of the people on the corner of Lee and Elm-Eugene simply have no where else to go. They are unwelcome everywhere. The shelter locks them out during the day, so if they are unemployed, what are they going to do and where are they going to do it? How can they work on rebuilding their lives when their "office" is the sidewalk?

Not every homeless person is an addict. I've seen people who came home to an eviction notice after their spouse gambled all the money away, and people who simply ran out of options after their unemployment benefits ran out. It's a complex problem that can't be explained or solved with a simple solution.

Clearing the sidewalks isn't the solution. It just hides the problem.