At The Hub in the South Bronx on Thursday, business owners and local leaders gathered underneath a new set of eyes.
Security cameras are going up at 10 locations, including above a building where Siraj Bhyad has done business for 25 years.
“It used to be some customers wouldn’t come because they were scared, but now they’ve come and talk to me and it’s much better,” Bhyad said.
The fear has shown up in the numbers. In a city-funded survey, nearly three in four merchants and over three in four shoppers said safety needed to improve to attract more people here.
NY1 saw open drug use around Roberto Clemente Plaza when visiting last year, and the problem carried into this year. In June, Bronx prosecutors charged 32 people across five alleged drug trafficking organizations operating in The Hub.
Pedro Suarez is the executive director of the Third Avenue Business Improvement District. He said the neighborhood is still confronting several problems at once.
“There are a lot of different issues that we’re trying to address, from folks struggling with mental health to illegal parking to illegal drug sales,” Suarez said.
The BID’s response now stretches beyond cameras: 75 solar-powered lights are being installed, while two public safety ambassadors patrol the district Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. until 2 p.m..
The goal is eventually four.
“Lighting and security cameras alone don’t create public safety. It’s the community together that makes public safety,” Suarez said.
Suarez said the work is not finished, and that Roberto Clemente Plaza is still not ready to remain open around the clock.
For Bhyad, though, the direction matters.
“It’s good for me too because I’m going to stay here longer. I’ve been here 25 years, but the last two, three years I said ‘Oh my goodness. This is worse,'” Bhyad said.
According to the BID, the camera locations were chosen due to 311 and 911 complaint data.