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Locals Unhappy with Drug Use, Littering at Devanney Triangle

By Eddie Small | October 15, 2014 8:47am
 Litter returned to the park shortly after its summer cleanup, said Garey.
Litter returned to the park shortly after its summer cleanup, said Garey.
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DNAinfo/Eddie Small

MOUNT HOPE — A park in The Bronx is struggling with an influx of homeless people, littering and fighting despite a recent beautification effort, locals say.

The Bronx is Blooming, an environmental group that works to improve green space in the borough, partnered with local architect Richard Garey this summer to renovate Devanney Triangle, a small park along East Burnside Avenue between Grand Concourse and Creston Avenue.

The purpose of the roughly $3,000 cleanup, which included picking up litter, laying down mulch and taking out weeds, was to help support a park that is often neglected, according to Garey. His company, Manhatta Architecture, P.C. sponsored the renovation.

"Hopefully, we can start to call attention to this particular park," he said. "It’s one of the parks that has kind of fallen by the wayside."

But the improvements did not last long, as the litter quickly returned, and the park became a hangout spot for the homeless, said Garey.

"The area is beautiful for about a day or two, and then immediately everything was getting destroyed," he said. "So it’s basically like throwing money out the window."

Several people were in Devanney Triangle on a recent afternoon, and trash ranging from scraps of paper to a small bottle of New Amsterdam Pineapple vodka was strewn across the ground.

Selena Smith, a 47-year-old childcare provider who lives on Morris Avenue and was in the park that day, described it as an inevitable destination for the homeless.

“If you don’t give a person an apartment, where are they going to go?” she asked.

Gustavo Rodriguez, who manages the nearby Associated Supermarket, said that his store has been dealing with problems in the park for years, particularly in the summertime.

“They always start fighting,” he said. “They use drugs, stuff like that.”

“They come and use the wall as a restroom,” he added.

Issues like these are causing some members of the neighborhood to simply stay out of the park, according to Xavier Rodriguez, district manager of Bronx Community Board 5.

“Some of our residents choose not to be part of that space because [of] who’s there from their perception,” he said. “So they avoid it or complain about it.”

The Department of Homeless Services said it has offered help to people in the park several times.

"DHS outreach teams consistently canvas Devanney Triangle to offer compassionate services and shelter to those in need," spokesman Chris Miller said in an email. "We will be reassessing the Triangle and working closely with Parks and the NYPD."

The Parks Department also pledged to work with DHS and the NYPD to evaluate the issues at Devanney Triangle and figure out improvements it can make to beautify the area, according to press officer Sabirah Abdus-Sabur.

Deputy Inspector Philip Rivera, commanding officer at the 46th Precinct, said that while Devanney Triangle is not one of the more troublesome areas, his officers would increase patrols of the park.

He encouraged residents with concerns like this to come to the precinct's Community Council meetings, held at 7 p.m. on the third Tuesday of each month in the 46th Precinct at 2120 Ryder Ave.

"The goal is to put this park back onto the community's and city's radar," Garey said in an email. "Its present condition has a detrimental effect on the surrounding community and business district."