By Amy Zimmer
DNAinfo News Editor
TURTLE BAY — Tucked inside Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, a 1.5-acre green space on East 47th Street and Second Avenue, sits a garden named after one of Turtle Bay's most famous residents: the late legendary actress Katharine Hepburn.
But the bench that locals transplanted to the garden nearly a decade ago from the movie star's Connecticut home now offers a secluded hotspot where women from a nearby shelter allegedly engage in sex and use drugs, volunteers from Friends of the Dag Hammarskjold Plaza said. The bench was headed for auction at Sotheby's but ended up in the park after the group convinced Hepburn's estate to donate it instead, according to the distraught volunteers.
The group's president, Sherrill Kazan, told DNAinfo she saw four women engaging in sexual activity on the bench and two men seeming to stand guard while smoking last Friday.
"It was so blatant," she said. "It was 4:30 in the afternoon. Still light out." She added: "It's not the first time, darling."
Kazan shared her concerns with residents at a 17th Precinct community meeting Tuesday night.
"We had one nice day and there was an influx of people we could not control," Kazan said.
The 17th precinct's Captain John Hart assured residents the police were paying attention.
"We had three arrests in the park that night," he said.
The garden's volunteers said they hope the NYPD prevents the space from reverting back to a haven for the homeless they say they found there a decade ago before organizers pushed for the park's creation.
"It's the environmental jewel of the East Side," Kazan said of the garden that houses a birthday party in honor of Hepburn each May. "The work that goes into this garden, you wouldn't have a clue," she said of the dedicated residents who tend the space.
"You have to be sensitive to the plight of other people," Kazan said. "But what do you do in this case? We don't want it to become derelict again."
