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Bronx's Valentine Ave. Turning Into Heroin Ave.

2010_09_drugbust.jpg
From a heroin bust earlier this year
Trying to think of somewhere romantic and pun-filled to take your sweetie tonight to celebrate International Talk Like a Pirate Day? You might want to stay away from Valentine Avenue in the Bronx. The Bedford Park road has become central to the burgeoning heroin trade; according to the News, there have been relentless stabbings, gunfire, street robberies and gang activity over the summer there. One veteran narcotics investigator said the neighborhood was as bad as Washington Heights in the '80s: "It's been that way for quite some time. There's a saturation effect. After a while, people on the block will ignore it rather than jeopardize their safety by complaining."

In July, police busted the notorious La Perla Organization, who ran a $40,000 a day heroin enterprise on Valentine between E. 194th to E. 196th. It's gotten so bad that when the nations Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske visited, he had six bodyguards accompany him on a tour of the area.

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Comments [rss]

  • altoid

    hands down one of the worst parts of the bronx....i havent been over there in a few yrs but i remember it was wild.

  • michael

    $65.00 can cop you a bundle on the humble

    as petey said the good old days are here again

    but now all the dope dealers have to do is hit a area thats been in gentrification for a few years bring the dope back out like on Valentine Avenue in the Bronx and sell to the hipsters and the oid new york will really be back in full swing

    michael

    cheap cars for sale

  • John L

    "as bad as Washington Heights in the '80s"

    From someone who grew up in Washington Heights in the 80's, specifically 171 street home of the Lenny Boys dubbed the Wild Cowboys by the cops and media, I can attest that Washington Heights in the 80s was NUTS and I don't think there will ever be another Washington Heights.

    There were so many murders in the 34th precinct that they had to split the precinct up and create the 33rd just to even out a little. The crazy thing about was that believe it or not as unsafe as the numbers would indicate. Most of these murders were drug related so if you weren't selling drugs you really didn't have much to worry about.

    Washington Heights was special because of its strategic location right by the George Washington Bridge. That meant affluent suburban New Jersey residents could come cop their drugs and be back on the bridge on their way home in minutes. So the drug dealers there never had to prey on the local residents, in fact drug use among the actual residents was low.

    Washington Heights never saw the devastation that many other neighborhoods saw, it just reaped the benefits of the money coming in from a much more opulent community. It's hard to understand but imagine profiting from something without actually seeing or experiencing the devastation that it's causing.

    Bottom line, Washington Heights was crazy and in my opinion there will never be another Washington Heights, at least in NYC.

  • baibaisea

    I beggarly you've got soldiers advancing aback from Afghanistan afterwards they've been apparent to the heroin from the poppy growing over there. Inevitably they get some of their accompany into it, and again use spreads and you end up with added abandon for accommodation and from users committing robberies for added money. Plus Long Islanders are allegedly freaking out because their heroin use ante are activity up, and the accomplished biologic bunch wars bottomward in Mexico is all about aegis smuggling routes in adjustment to acceptation cocaine and charlatan from South America into the United States. www.uk-power-battery.co.uk

  • CityFace

    William Burroughs, is that you?

  • Petey

    The city needs a good drug epidemic to return to the "good old days"

  • ddhboy

    Well, I mean you've got soldiers coming back from Afghanistan after they've been exposed to the heroin from the poppy growing over there. Inevitably they get some of their friends into it, and then use spreads and you end up with increased violence for turf and from users committing robberies for extra money. Plus Long Islanders are apparently freaking out because their heroin use rates are going up, and the whole drug cartel wars down in Mexico is all about security smuggling routes in order to import cocaine and heroine from South America into the United States.

  • Loulou

    that hood been known for heroin since the 80s..

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