Chelsea Revisits Its Rougher Days

Residents in Chelsea have become disgruntled due to a perceived increase in criminal activity and quality of life changes in the neighborhood since the pandemic swept through New York. Some have reported seeing drug use, drug dealing, robberies, stolen packages, public urination and prostitution, particularly on Eighth Ave.

Chelsea resident Eric Marcus, a journalist and producer of the podcast “Making Gay History” who has lived in Chelsea for 26 years, has noticed not only an increase in crime, but disinterest from the tenth police precinct. He said he sees fewer foot patrols in the neighborhood and says that calls to the precinct “go unanswered.”

“Now that the police have been criticized for what is admittedly, some really bad behavior in dealing with peaceful protestors, they’re not going to do anything,” he said. “They are just going to retreat to their station house and only respond to emergencies. And last I checked, that wasn’t the role of the NYPD.”

He argues that due to a lack of police presence, the Chelsea streets have become a hot spot for undisturbed criminal activity.

Some neighbors agree. An anonymous Chelsea resident, 60, argued that the problem is not the lack of police presence, but the stagnant scaffolding on Eighth Avenue between 20th and 21st streets, where people are using and selling drugs and leaving “human excrement,” and garbage. They said that the scaffolding has been up for about two years, and it is encouraging the problem. Chelsea News has previously reported on scaffolding in the neighborhood that, while temporary by implication, had been up as long as the second Bush Administration.

“It’s like you’re giving them a nice office to conduct business,” the anonymous resident said. “You might as well serve cookies as well.”

This resident, who has been calling the police about three times a week, said the police have been responsive. “They come pretty quickly. And they can’t arrest anybody because they have to find them in the act of the crime.” Typically, they said, the police will clear the area in front of their home. They think the solution is to complete the construction on Eighth Avenue and take down the scaffolding.

“I’m afraid to go out at night. I’m afraid to go out during the day,” they said.

Robberies and Burglaries

According to statistics provided by the Tenth Precinct, robberies have increased by 200% for the week of October 12 through October 18 from the same week in 2019. Burglaries in the same week in 2019 were at zero, and in 2020 were up by six points. Both grand larceny and felonious assault decreased by 40%.

The Guardian Angels have begun patrolling Chelsea in response to the activity. The aforementioned resident welcomes them. “I think we need their help. I think it’s out of control now,” they said. “It’s too much. And the police can’t handle it. The drug dealings on eighth Avenue — it’s a lot.”

Marcus, who manages a newsletter for his block in Chelsea, wrote to the residents: “I for one think that it’s a terrible idea to invite the Guardian Angels onto our streets when we’re already paying taxes to support a very large police department. It’s just ‘security theater’ that does more for the profile of the Guardian Angels and their Trump-supporting leader than actually making us any safer.”

Another anonymous resident of Chelsea who has lived in the neighborhood for 17 years said that the Guardian Angels seem “more for publicity than anything else,” but she added, “I would certainly withhold judgment on that until I see what, if anything, they’re able to do.”

This resident has claimed that on two separate occasions she has called EMS due to a “collapsed” person in front of her building. She has also witnessed public urination in “broad daylight” and has visited the Tenth Precinct to report a broken lock on the front door to the building and stolen packages that happened last month. Both of her 911 calls received an immediate response, and when she has called the precinct directly, she “got no answer.” She said her building’s super has had to clean up after someone “defecated” in the stairway to the basement. “People don’t want to live where people come and defecate in their basement areas,” she said.

“Drug Dealing and Prostitution”

This increase, in her eyes, is due to the pandemic. “The streets were no longer filled with people and the businesses were shut down. People started to come and hang out on Eighth Avenue who did not live there and seemed to be hanging out for purposes such as drug dealing and prostitution,” she said. “It’s the removal of external constraints.”

“Long-term solutions, of course involve giving more resources to social concerns and helping people so that they have other options besides drug dealing, and besides prostitution. Of course, I’m not against that,” she said. “What I’m against, is thinking that that’s going to replace enforcement, because it won’t.”

This resident attended a Zoom meeting with the Tenth Precinct on Wednesday evening and said, “enforcement activity is underway.” The precinct was not available to respond to requests for comment.

Residents believe a contributing factor to the criminal activity are the “sex shops” on Eighth Avenue, one of them being Rainbow Station, and have claimed seeing sex workers around the stores.

“There are often various people there waiting to sell themselves,” Marcus said. “And they come around the block where it’s quiet on 21st or 20th Street, and have sex with whoever’s paying for sex, and then they leave their condoms behind.”

Rainbow Station declined to comment.

“When we first moved here, there was quite a lot of drug dealing. The neighborhood was rougher than it is now. But until fairly recently, it felt very safe,” Marcus said. “Since the pandemic, a lot has changed.”