People are on high alert in the Hub as drug use continues to spill onto the streets around Roberto Clemente Plaza. The notorious plaza has been closed since July, when former Mayor Eric Adams launched a multiagency effort to address the open drug use issue in the area. The city put barricades around the plaza and launched a mobile command center there. Benjamin Engel, program manager for the Third Avenue Business Improvement District, said the situation was dire before the barricades.
“When it was open, it was four to five ambulances a day responding to overdoses. It was basically a waiting room for overdose response,” he said. Now that the plaza has been closed for eight months, Engel said many drug users have moved onto nearby streets. He says businesses are feeling the impact, adding that vacancies in the Hub are rising and storefronts are becoming harder to fill. Managers at surrounding stores say the conditions outside are getting worse. Asha Raz, manager of Cee &…..