Did it take a Greenway to clear the block?
My ministry partner took this photo at the entrance to the Greenway, near the block. Image credit: Audrie Keen
Two days ago, I wrote about “the block” at Lee and Eugene Streets being empty. The block is a long-time gathering spot where folks, many of them homeless, are known to loiter and drink. A friend, who catches a bus just down the sidewalk, had contacted me to tell me that police had cleared everybody out.
Yesterday, I wrote a follow-up post after hearing from multiple sources that the block-clearing, among other things, was the result of a meeting between County Commissioner Chair Skip Alston, Chief Bellamy and neighborhood residents.
Today, the News & Record reports about the block being empty. Their story says that it took a week of 30-minute patrols to clear the block. Actually, the zero-tolerance enforcement began on Tuesday morning, and the block has been clear ever since. It didn’t take a week. The block cleared as soon as the police cracked down.
But let’s back up a minute. If Chief can impose a zero-tolerance policy on loitering on the block, and it’s automagically cleared, then why did it take 20 years to do that? Residents have been complaining for a long time. So have the merchants on the block, as business after business has failed there. If there was such a quick and easy solution, why wasn’t it done before?
Well, for one thing, there wasn’t a Downtown Greenway 200 yards from the block before. Which brings me to another question: Now that the block is cleared, how long will it be before those artistic benches are back?
“Endurance. Triumph. Faith. Strength. Hope.”
Prescient?