ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – An Albuquerque bookstore has opened up its property for people experiencing homelessness, but neighboring businesses say it’s bringing a host of problems, with people trespassing and leaving trash on their properties. “And we don’t feel safe. We get yelled at and accosted in our own parking lot,” said Laura Freed, co-owner of Albuquerque School of Healing Arts.
Quirky Books near Jefferson and Central has opened its doors to help people without a safe place to sleep. “More and more people came to us and said, ‘We need a safe space,’” said Gillam Kerley, owner of Quirky Used Books and More.
But businesses that surround the bookstore say it’s negatively affecting them. “We have people sleeping on the sidewalk; they have all manner of their personal belongings. Trash, it spills onto the street. We often find feces, vomit, used toilet paper in our bushes and in front of our building,” said Freed.
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While the surrounding businesses expressed sympathy for the people staying on the property, they say it’s leading to people loitering outside their businesses and deterring customers. Ed Fitzgerald is an architect whose office sits across from the bookstore, and says this has made him consider moving…