Sunset Park residents denounce drugs in schoolyards, call for better homeless services
A group of Sunset Park residents came together Saturday to call for an end to drug use and crime near schoolyards that they say come from nearby homeless shelters.
Representatives of the Village of Sunset Park took to a hotel the city converted into a homeless shelter at 247 49th St. to send their message. The hotel is one of several shelters that has opened in the neighborhood without the community being given an opportunity for input, Ray Acevedo, president of the advocacy group, said.
Acevedo, 62, said because of the shelters, hypodermic needles are frequently found in schoolyards, and residents of the shelters have been spotted doing drugs nearby during school hours. P.S. 1 and the Pena Herrera Playground are blocks away from the shelter.