NYC - Homeless turn upper west side into a spectacle of drugs and harassment

The wealthy residents of the upper west side in Manhattan are not pleased with the surge in homelessness and criminal activity at their door step.

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Upper West Side residents say three hotels that are housing hundreds of homeless men during the coronavirus pandemic have turned the area into a spectacle of public urination, catcalling and open drug use.

Among those staying at the luxury Belleclaire on Broadway and the Lucerne on West 79th Street, and the more down-market Belnord on West 87th Street, are people who are mentally ill, recovering from drug addictions, and registered sex offenders.

Ten sex offenders are staying in a single hotel — the Belleclaire, which is just one block from the playground of PS 87.

“It doesn’t feel safe anymore,” nanny Michele McDowall, 39, told The Post.

She said she was recently offered crack by a pair of homeless men as she wheeled a toddler along Riverside Park at 79th Street.

“You want to buy crack?” she said they shouted repeatedly as she hurried past, and as the frightened 2-year-old girl in the stroller put her hands over her ears and cried, “Too loud!”

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A Facebook group has been formed in which residents exchange photos of men peeing, masturbating and lying sprawled and passed out near the hotels.

“Our community is terrified, angry and frightened,” one organizer of the 1,700-member group, Dr. Megan Martin, told The Post.

A group of nearly a dozen local rabbis last week asked to meet with the mayor to see if something can be done — but so far, no response, one told The Post

And the PTA for neighborhood school PS 87 sent out a letter Monday urging parents to call their local politicians to roust their newest neighbors entirely.

Of greatest concern for parents are the sex offenders — 10 are living at the Belleclaire as of Thursday, the state sex offender registry said. That’s just one block from PS 87’s playground.

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Nearly 300 homeless addicts alone have since last week lived at the Lucerne at 79th Street and Amsterdam, where on Thursday afternoon, a trio of homeless residents filled a Post reporter in on the ongoing drug use.

“Listen, whatever drug you can imagine is done there,” Angel Ortiz, 60, told a Post reporter of his fellow residents outside the hotel.

“They shoot up, sniff up, crack, K2, everything,” agreed a fellow resident who gave his name as B.K. and his age as 43.

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They wanted these policies. NYC has been very lax on homeless problems and crime for several years now. It's gotten way out of control this summer.

Larger American cities that are being soft on crime are going to see a decline. It's frustrating to see a great city like New York make so many of the wrong moves.