Rockaways Businesses Threatened By Scary Drug Addicts

The other Rockaways (Photo courtesy Nate Kensigner)

First came the mosquitoes, then came the hipsters—what will ruin the Rockaways next? Oh, right, the addicts and destitute residents that have been there for years.

Businesses along Beach 116th St. are being thwarted by "scores of aggressive panhandlers, recovering drug addicts and ex-cons who live in the surrounding single-room-occupancy hotels and facilities," writes the Daily News, which means that taco-seeking Williamsburg-ers are just ripe for the picking. "We have had to hire security to walk some of our customers to their cars," says one storeowner, name-checking the Rockaway Park Hotel, an SRO that houses people in substance-abuse programs as a major culprit. Last month, a resident of the Hotel was arrested for threatening someone with a box cutter inside the Beach 116 Street MTA public bathroom.

One possible solution is, unsurprising, more development in the area, coupled with tax breaks and government financing programs. "The vacancies are there, and government needs to work with well-known developers to take a chance on this site," said Jonathan Gaska, district manager of Community Board 14. "We've seen other communities get help, but we can't seem to get attention from the government, except when they have something bad to send."

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By Jamie Feldmar in News on August 8, 2011 6:50 PM

Comments [rss]

Carl Locke

So this is about Beach 116th street. The boarded up bungalows are from????? Maybe Beach 7th? Who knows, but they ain't anywhere near B 116th.

proudliberal1947

Sorry the devastation is not done, please watch the behind the scenes for the Investors waiting to drive the price down further, steps one and two are complete, they have entered stage three with this news article which is to get the word out for other investors, then of course the area will have a much bigger CRIME so as to justify putting area off limits. Does anyone recognize this song, they repeat it very time they want to bring in Investors for the BOTTOM Dollar and Cheat you, look to your, hahahaha, MAYOR and council person.

One last thing talk to the people from Coney Island, see if the pattern isn't the same.

pendejito

Funny how before there were hipsters and new overpriced hip restaurants (owned and opened by transplants), there was never an article on the Rockaway's riff raff.

Can't wait to see the new articles once condoes and new developers move into Coney.

grandeur1

there's a public subway bathroom at the rockaways?!

BPNerdHerd

Yes, it is called Beach 116th Street.

Emmily_Litella

I also have it from a former resident that the area of Rock Park (or the whole penninsula?) has more bars per capita than anywhere in NYC if not the entire nation.

Carl Locke

yeah, maybe 50 years ago.

ganghiscon

Sounds like a former resident who's never been to Bedford Avenue, Third Avenue or the Lower East Side. Which is likely, for a Rockaway resident.

Emmily_Litella

Funny, he's an irishman originally from Greenpoint and left long before the unshaven gentry showed up. He knows a thing or two about public houses.