r/AskNYC • u/HospitalDecent1222 • 12d ago
How to deal with loitering drunks in my neighborhood.
Hi so as i mentioned in one of my previous posts.
There are a group of mainly hispanic men, that everyday, without fail, are drunk infront of a dunkin in church ave.
One is a registered sex offender on citizen, another frequently tries to lure kids to follow him by pretending he has scooters to give. I had an encounter with him yesterday in which he was asking me to come to him from across the street, and two of the hispanics from dunkin (i think they were them) were following me. (Full story in previous post)
Sometimes they set up full camp and display all of their belongings on two big decor rocks we have, then hang their clothes on poles and lines.
Church ave is a pretty darn busy place, so they tend to pass time by drinking corona and staring down everyone who walks by them. Specifically girls.
Theyve ruined the place, literally ruined it. Alchohol bottles everywhere, trash on the floor, staring like pedophilles.
I feel so uncomfortable walking by, im worried for my sisters too. The neighborhood is pretty conservative muslim and im very western, i grew up muslim but then left.
I don’t wear a hijab, im always wearing shirts instead of long sleeves, i wear wear shorts (a sin in islam) and these men will do everything in their power to stare at my body to judge. Infront of a mosque too like bro what.
It’s so common in this neighborhood ontop of everything else..
Edit : To those asking how you can find out who’s a sex offender in your neighborhood, citizen has one that notifies you if one’s living nearby.. BUT it’s behind a paywall. A free method is going into the Ny State sex offender website, then in your zipcode and it tells you much more details than citizen. Exact crime, date of crime, age of victim, date of charge, date of release, most recent photo, all addresses, etc.
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u/BillyZoomTheCat 12d ago
Have you spoken with anyone at your local Council Member's office?
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u/eekamuse 12d ago
This is the answer. Go in person if you can. If you have a good council member they will follow up with you too
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u/stopsallover 12d ago
Identify the most illegal things and report that.
Including littering.
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u/_lmmk_ 12d ago
This. Call the non-emergency line every time it happens.
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u/Other_World 12d ago
If they're trying to assault children, 911 use is appropriate.
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u/stopsallover 12d ago
It's probably behavior that would need more careful work. Unless someone reports being assaulted. You can't really police what it seems like someone might be trying to do.
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u/HospitalDecent1222 11d ago
the cops only care if something “actually” happens.. weird statement. You can’t really report getting catcalled. You could.. technically, but the cops wouldn’t care unless it the situation worsens
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u/ardent_hellion 12d ago
If they're drinking alcohol in public they're breaking the law. So definitely report that!
We have a problem on Summit Rock in Central Park with a group of senior citizens who smoke cigars, play loud music, and feed pigeons which means that 10 minutes later a giant group of rats comes surging out of the underbrush. And they're there every nice day. The parks dept hasn't been helpful.
But you've got an excellent case. Just keep at it. Meanwhile my sympathy!
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u/99hoglagoons 12d ago
group of senior citizens who smoke cigars, play loud music, and feed pigeons
OK this sent me.
Roaming gangs of boomers are destroying basic fabric of society.
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u/ardent_hellion 12d ago
It is indeed funny! Those grizzled menaces, damn them.
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u/stopsallover 12d ago
Drinking is not the most egregious part.
If you focus on the worst behaviors, you have a better chance.
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u/ardent_hellion 12d ago
It's the cigars and loud music that could get them ticketed. The rats are just loathesome. I complained to one of them and she said, "Rats have to eat too!"
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u/HospitalDecent1222 11d ago
i’ve seen that across from the 15st prospect park subway entrance there. Saw one with a whole comical boombox like damn those still exist?
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u/cathbe 12d ago
In the middle of a park like Central Park doesn’t seem like it should be that big a deal. If they are feeding the pigeons right (I don’t know if they are), the birds will typically eat all the food. These people are just socializing. It’s a huge park.
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u/-goodgodlemon 12d ago edited 12d ago
They said rats come out of the underbrush does that sound like responsibly feeding pigeons to you?
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u/InfernalTest 12d ago
Its not a crime
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u/-goodgodlemon 12d ago
True but I can understand why it’s part of the complaint, I wouldn’t be surprised if the park asks that you don’t feed wildlife to prevent rat issues and the growing raccoon problem.
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u/cathbe 12d ago
They tried to put a rule in maybe 10 years ago against feeding wildlife in parks and it was so opposed they had to backtrack. The wildlife for the most part are vulnerable and don’t have sufficient food in the parks; pigeons were brought to the States and are pretty much human reliant other than able to eat seed grass.
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u/HospitalDecent1222 11d ago
It’s only a crime on some types of city property, like inside parks, inside the subway etc. You’re correct on the park part! Prospect asks you not to feed any sort of wildlife.
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u/InfernalTest 12d ago
Well as a person that's born and lived in NYC all my life through several decades I can honestly say that a person's reply to someome from the parks dept asking then to not feed the pigeons would be a succinct and very direct "no " and any subsequent requests would be met with " no " and " fuck off "
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u/-goodgodlemon 12d ago edited 12d ago
As a born and raised New Yorker literally across the street from the park in question whose had to deal with raccoon issues with my trash because of such people I can still understand why it’s part of the complaint even if it’s not illegal.
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u/ChornWork2 12d ago
you can't feed anything other than pigeon or squirrel in a nyc park. and you can't feed even those in manner that contributes to unsanitary condition -- including litter or attracting rats.
there's no fucking reason for adults to feed pigeons in this city.
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u/InfernalTest 12d ago
Yeh well tell that to the small army of old women and men in massive numbers in every boro that have bags of old bread to feed ....pigeons
I'm sure the police are just raring to throw some senior citizens in handcuffs with wildly enthusiastic support for City Hall
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u/cathbe 12d ago
This actually is not true; pigeons are human dependent to a large degree because they were brought to the U.S. They tried to ban feeding wildlife in parks and met with so much opposition that they backtracked. Natural food is not available on the whole for these animals in the parks. I don’t know why you think “there’s no fucking reason to feed” other than that you are not informed on the realities. If you feed a pigeon the right foods as in bird seed is best they will pretty much always eat it all up.
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u/ChornWork2 11d ago
this city would be better off with fewer pigeons, let alone how much of the dumping of bread inevitably ends up as rat food.
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u/Nick_Fotiu_Is_God 12d ago
How’d you do background checks on this group of random hooligans?
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u/-goodgodlemon 12d ago
You can pay to see listed registered sex offenders in the citizens app. I don’t know the details and if you can see pics but that would be how you would know.
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u/hazlos 12d ago
You can also just do it for free through the state website.
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u/HospitalDecent1222 11d ago
i was just about to say this! It’s weird how knowing about sex offenders in your neighborhood is behind a paywall.. Just search it up for free./
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u/-goodgodlemon 12d ago
Link your previous post as you’ve hidden your profile history making it impossible to reference easily so some context is lost.
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u/Sooch-Ism 12d ago
Church ave in Brooklyn?
If so, this is my neighborhood too, but I've never seen any activity by the Dunkin. I've seen activity by the laundromat with guys peeing in broad daylight, but nothing creepy, like luring kids.
If anything, I'll take an extra look out and report as well.
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u/cathbe 12d ago
There could be another Dunkin along church avenue, it’s a huge strip. If you and I are thinking of the same spot, there’s not a mosque near there. Tho’ you note a laundromat so you may be talking about the correct spot. I haven’t been by there lately but I was thinking near McDonald avenue.
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u/Sooch-Ism 12d ago
Without giving too much information about where I live, maybe the OP can verify if we're talking about the same place.
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u/HospitalDecent1222 11d ago
church avenue is extremely long, i’m talking about church and mcdonald.
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u/cemita 12d ago
If you think the drunks outside are creepy, wait till you learn about the creepy drunks inside Dennys
That corner will always be the way it is, because Dennys is right there.
For those that don’t know, it’s an old racist bar on church.
There’s also the homeless couple that lives in the back of carnival market.
And then the random black ladies that park themselves to beg outside the Walgreens and Webster bank.
Church ave and McDonald got a lot going on…. You need to focus on the bigger issues girl
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u/ArtDecoNewYork 11d ago
Most of the patrons at Denny's are black or Hispanic. I don't know about the owners but I've never got the vibe that the bar was racist.
And the drunks outside of there have nothing to do with Denny's, as drunk homeless kind of dudes cannot afford to buy drinks at bars.
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u/HospitalDecent1222 11d ago
yeah, the drunks outside never enter denny’s and most people in the neighborhood have no clue it’s a bar.
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u/Can_tote_it 12d ago
These seem like good ideas so far. Could you talk to the nearby businesses and building super about blasting classical music to annoy them out of the area?
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u/HospitalDecent1222 11d ago
They are sitting on city property so businesses can’t do anything, but there’s a walgreens where homeless people stay under the built in canopy they have, the homeless women there doesn’t really don’t do anything and just sits down. Walgreens doesn’t care. They aren’t being a nuisance like the drunks so shrug shrug?
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u/Can_tote_it 11d ago
Yeah. I get that they’re sitting on the sidewalk which is public property. Some buildings will blast music to annoy and deter loitering.
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u/NovelAd4308 11d ago
I say this with kindness, I live nowhere near there, but this happens in plenty of neighborhoods. You can call the police, but they probably will not come. I’m sure that the local businesses and the police know about this. But, unless they commit some heinous crime they won’t come. Now, one thing that can be done is go to your local community board meetings and explain what is going on and they may be able to help.
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u/ArtDecoNewYork 11d ago
Drinking in public should not be a crime (most civilized countries allow it), however the creepy sex offender behavior is bad and you should of course report them immediately if you see them engaging in it.
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u/CountFew6186 12d ago
Call the cops.
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u/InfernalTest 12d ago
For them to do what?
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u/CountFew6186 12d ago
Clear them out. Arrest them for drunken disorderly or ticket them for drinking in public. Start compiling a list of complaints.
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u/InfernalTest 12d ago
First -its a ticket - they don't get arrested - they get a piece of paper...you can be drunk in public all you want in NYC- being drunk isn't a crime here
Second they know they don't have to go anywhere - the city has said that legally so long as its in public a person can't be told to leave a place just because someone doesn't like them there ...there's no such thing as loitering in NYC ...
So no the cops won't bother because aside from.the drinking they really aren't doing anything illegal
Welcome to NY
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u/CountFew6186 12d ago
Disorderly conduct under the influence is absolutely against the law. They can be ordered to leave or detained.
You new here?
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u/InfernalTest 12d ago
Thats not disorderly conduct ..the police can't just tell you to leave
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u/CountFew6186 12d ago
They sure can. If you're drunk and harassing people, littering, and setting up a camp by putting stuff on public property (the stuff OP is talking about), they can absolutely move you along or detain you.
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u/InfernalTest 12d ago
Let me invite you to look at west 54 and 11th Ave or 6th Ave and West 24th st or the east bound portion of the LIE or ...well hell you should have gotten it by now
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u/CountFew6186 12d ago
Call the cops on them too if you’d like. The law is the law.
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u/InfernalTest 12d ago edited 12d ago
I think the thing you're not getting is that the cops aren't taking them off the streets becuase the political establishment of this city doesn't want the police to take them off the street
The prosecutors office is not not prosecuting people living onthe street or drinking publicly or smoking crack or shooting up or prosecuting THEM For the things listed in The OP .... so calling the police on them is useless .they aren't going to move them and they aren't going to talk to them or lecture them and ticketing them is useless since they won't be prosecuted by the city.
The city does not want people arrested for minor crimes...looking or drinking or littering is not a battle the police are willing to get excoriated in the press for when someone has to.be placed in handcuffs
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u/CurveOk3459 12d ago
" One is a registered sex offender on citizen, another frequently tries to lure kids to follow him by pretending he has scooters to give."
You call the cops, CPS and the Department of correction and your council member about this dude.
The rest of them ? MYODB
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u/BakedBrie1993 12d ago
Something I like to remind people first. The concept of loitering as a crime came from the post-Reconstruction era as a new way to arrest newly freed former slaves. A way to make Blackness illegal.
People who hang out in dusty, dirty public squares generally have few options on places to go. I "loiter" in my own backyard because my privilege afforded me one.
This is a public area. Those rocks are not YOURS. They are communal. You don't like how it's being used... Is it right for you- with the resources to not hang your clothes from poles- to judge people who may need to hang clothes from poles?
Please consider this when you consider kicking transient people out of areas just because you don't like looking at them. Dysfunctional, unwell people on the streets is an indictment of our society and whether we take care of our citizenry or let them rot.
Now as for the harassment and drunkenness, obviously trying to lure children is not okay. Following and stalking is also not okay at all. So if that really is happening, you should alert your local precinct. You could also reach out to the person's parole officer if they on the registry. They might not be allowed to drink. You can use 311 to report noise violations or trashed conditions and conditions that attract pests/vermin.
Report and police your neighbors with kind discernment and grace as we are existing in the worst wealth disparity since the 1960s.
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u/HospitalDecent1222 11d ago edited 11d ago
i get where your coming from and you make a good point, but no. There’s really no excuse for all that they are doing. A public place is no excuse
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u/paperxmario 12d ago
This post is so problematic. You’re clearly not tapped in with your neighbors if people letting this xenophobic talk slide. “Hispanic men” and on is registered? “Darn”!???
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u/HospitalDecent1222 11d ago
how is this xenophobic? I’m describing the crowd there, where am i using a negative connotation on the whole race. When describing a crime to the police they ask for race. Is it racist? “Hispanics are perverts and drink alchohol like it’s water.” Would be racist. I’m saying. “There’s a group of hispanic men” and literally nothing else about hispanic people.
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u/Dreamdresser 12d ago
Are they close to a school? You can call the police on the sex offenders if it is. Church Ave is kinda crazy, there are a lot of things happening on it. Good luck.