Open-air heroin use, mentally disturbed homeless people, human waste and troubling spasms of violence have turned a stretch of the East Village into a “s–thole,” locals say.
The area along East 14th Street, between First Avenue and Avenue A, was a dangerous eyesore even before the broad-daylight stabbing on Sunday that left one person dead and two others wounded, according to residents.
“It’s a s–thole. It’s horrid,” Barbara N., who has lived in the neighborhood since the 1980s, told The Post on Monday.
“It has gotten so bad.”
Alejandro Piedra, 30, was charged with murder in the stabbing that left Clemson Coxfield, 38, fatally wounded — an incident erupting from a fight between homeless people at the corner of East 14th Street and Avenue A , police said.
He’s also charged with two counts of attempted murder for slashing two other homeless people, a 51-year-old woman and a 31-year-old man, during the tussle, which broke out around 5:45 p.m., law enforcement sources said.