UPPER WEST SIDE — A growing homeless encampment has cropped up on West 96th Street near a busy subway station and an elementary school, disturbing residents who fear it is a safety hazard.
Trash piles first appeared in June in front of 264-266 West 96th St., an abandoned subway building between Broadway and West End Avenue, and they have kept growing throughout the summer, said resident Paul Lashin.
Homeless people took up residence among the trash and added to it sometime between the summer and early fall, he said.
"I noticed that the garbage pile kept coming back, but it seemed to be more organized," Lashin explained. "There were books and stuff stuck into the grates of this building."
Between Aug. 3 and Oct. 8, a dozen calls about a homeless encampment on this block were logged by 311 operators. No other calls regarding homelessness have previously been logged this year in the same area.
Over this past weekend, three mattresses appeared at the site — a king or queen-size mattress and two twins — said Michael Zerka, who manages The Columbia condo building across the street.
"It’s a big concern, and [building residents] are up in arms that the city does nothing," Zerka said, noting he's reached out to the Sanitation Department to clear out the trash. "It’s clearly a safety hazard."
Lashin said he has contacted 311 and is now reaching out to local leaders to get the area cleaned up and the homeless sleeping there dispersed before things get worse, he said.
"It’s just going to turn into a village there if something’s not done," he said.
On Wednesday afternoon, James Carroll, 43, was sitting on the largest mattress piled with pillows and blankets, holding a cigarette and wearing a hospital bracelet. To his right was a shopping cart filled of bottles and cans, as well as other items, like a book, trash bags and cardboard.
Carroll, who said he has been homeless in New York City for 17 years and moves around a lot, found the site a few days ago.
"I slept here a few nights. It's better than cardboard," he said of the mattresses, noting he wasn't the one who brought them there.
A few other people have camped out on the mattresses, as well, said Carroll, who planned to cash in his collection of recyclables.
Mostly, residents don't bother him, though they also don't help, he said.
"They don't do nothing," he said. "If they were going to do something they would have done something by now."
That portion of the busy sidewalk, steps from the West 96th Street 1/2/3 train station and a crosstown bus stop, "is a wreck," Lashin added.
Not only is unsightly, the encampment sits right near the elementary school P.S. 75.
"The whole area is loaded with families... we can’t walk on that side of the street," he said.
Neither the Department of Homeless Services nor the Department of Sanitation immediately responded to requests for comment.
The issue of homelessness in the neighborhood reached a five-year high this summer, with locals reported encampments, panhandling and the presence of homeless people to 311 at much higher volumes.
Update: A spokeswoman from Department of Homeless Services said the agency is aware of a homeless man living at the site and that it is planning to work with him.
"The outreach team is working closely with this client to offer services and bring him indoors. DHS is committed to ensuring that unsheltered New Yorkers are aware of their options as temperatures begin to drop," she said in a statement.
