NYPD cleans up Bronx "open-air drug market," but residents say more needs to be done

An "open-air drug market" on Melrose Avenue in the Bronx that drew outrage from lawmakers and residents earlier this month has seen significant change after a NYPD crackdown.

On September 14, FOX 5 visited a block of Melrose Avenue north of East 149th Street that was lined with people openly using and selling drugs. Some drug users could be seen barely conscious, while another was seen passed out on the sidewalk near a pool of his own vomit.

After FOX 5's report and repeated calls for action from Rep. Ritchie Torres and other lawmakers, city officials and NYPD officers swept into the neighborhood.

For Hassan, a nearby store owner, the change was a long time coming. 

"Now it's perfect," Hassan said. "Clean."

However, residents say that the change is not a permanent solution, and that many of the users have simply relocated nearby, congregating in Roberto Clemente Plaza. FOX 5's cameras saw officers politely telling addicts they couldn’t stay on the block, but many simply crossed the street to continue their activities.

Many residents living nearby say that the city must provide more money for services to get to the root of the problem.

"They all have issues and problems that they need worked on and instead of just pushing them aside, find out what the problem is, the placement, the jobs, whatever needed to be done," said Pam, who lives nearby. "Let them find what they need."

Congressman Ritchie Torres echoed that sentiment. While pleased with the improvements, he cautioned that the city has merely "relocated the crisis" rather than solving it. 

"If we were outside One Police Plaza, City Hall, or in a neighborhood like the Upper East Side of Manhattan or Park Slope, Brooklyn, an open-air drug market would never be allowed to flourish," Torres said.