Heather Fordham

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Jul 11, 2025, 5:56 AM

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Updated

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Calls to clean up an area in the South Bronx that is known for drugs and homelessness are slowly being answered.

Metal barricades surrounded Roberto Clemente Plaza in the Hub, a commercial corridor along East 149th street and Third Avenue.

The plaza, which has been riddled with homelessness, illicit drug activity and trash, has been temporarily closed off and guarded by the NYPD.

Kaz Daughtry, deputy mayor of Public Safety and Camille Joseph Varlack, deputy mayor of Administration, visited the area on Thursday afternoon just one day after Rep. Ritchie Torress held a press conference demanding action to be taken.

"We agree with him, there is an issue here, we had a plan in place before that press conference, this was going to happen," said Kaz Daughtry, "I was met with business owners saying thank you, that their calls for help have been answered."

A mobile command center was dropped into the middle of the plaza on Thursday morning. The city says it will be staffed 24/7 with NYPD officers and sanitation workers.

Local leaders place partial blame on the number of clinics in the area, saying the district is over saturated.

"I've never saw something like this, only crackheads, they are sleeping all night, they do their thing on the floor, they're taking drugs in front of everyone," said Albert Jamal, who owns Zodiac Jewlery along Third Avenue.

Jamal was glad to see the barricades up when he opened his store on Thursday morning.

"We are very, very happy, a lot of people don't want to come to this area because of that, we lost a lot of customers because people don't want to deal with that. Thank God, now I hope it's going to last," said Jamal.

Varlack says they have brought the "Community Link" model to the area, a multiagency operation that will surge resources into the Hub in an effort to address substance abuse, mental health, homeless outreach, sanitation and other quality-of-life issues.