“They moved away from the deli on the corner and were hanging out right smack in front of the St. Nick’s,” he added. “People are afraid to walk down the block.”

Other residents spoke about finding drug paraphernalia in their vestibules and being afraid to walk on the street at night.

State Street resident Anita said her neighbor who lives at 368 State was coming home about 8:30 p.m. after visiting a neighborhood ATM when two men pushed their way into his building and began to attack him. “But he has a dog and he was screaming, and somehow he got the two guys to leave. It was really traumatic for him,” she said. 

Anita said she also had to call 911 about two weeks ago to revive a man “completely passed out between the wheel of a car and the street” in front of her house. 

Towering toilet inferno

Anita suspects that a construction site dumpster near her house may attract vagrants. 

“In June, some vagrants went to the construction site and they were using the porta-potty on the site, which unfortunately was unlocked. And they set it on fire. It became a towering inferno on the street like you wouldn’t believe. It was very toxic smoke,” she said. “There were a lot of fire trucks, a lot of people out — it was midnight. It was crazy.”

Sgt. Orhan Bayram, Neighborhood Coordination Officer Supervisor, asked residents to communicate with him about the specific dates and hours the vagrants gathered to better pinpoint the response. “We rotate our schedules based on what’s going on and conditions in the area.”

P.O. Christopher Fret, NCO for the 84th’s Sector C with P.O. Abdul Moien, said he and his partner were relatively new to the precinct. “But since we got to this position, State Street has been a point of emphasis.” He said that the precinct has given out “multiple summonses” for illegal parking on that block recently, but the NCOs haven’t observed drug use. “If you keep us posted, moving forward, we are going to continue to put emphasis on it and try to be there as often as we can,” Fret said.

Councilmember Lincoln Restler, however, said his office has frequently called in complaints to the precinct about the drug problem.

“I have walked by Saint Nicholas Church and seen people dealing drugs half a dozen times. I have reached out to the 84 on this, my staff has reached out to the 84 on this — we are very concerned about it,” Restler said.

“We appreciate that you have added it to your tours, but I think, as the residents have highlighted, having a steady presence there is a critically important deterrence,” he said, eliciting applause from the crowd.

Report drug sales to 911

Special Operations Lt. Peter Behan, who joined the precinct in May, said drug sales were a different category than drug use, and that people should immediately call 911 and provide a description when they see drug sales going on.

“Once you make a 911 call about selling drugs, a ‘kite’ is generated. A kite is an informative statement that has to be answered to, has to be investigated,” Behan said.

The Narcotics Squad, not precinct cops, investigate drug sales in order to prevent corruption, he explained. “Narcotics is not allowed to share information with us … it’s one less way for corruption to happen.”

Residents acknowledged they had not called 911 to report drug sales, but rather had complained directly to the precinct.

“Don’t get us wrong, we are going to do our end on the precinct level to take care of this,” Behan added. He suggested getting together with residents after the precinct meeting ended and figuring out the best times for cops to visit the block. “We’ll go there with our unmarked cars, we’ll sit there, and we’ll jump out and see their reaction. I’ve done this for many years, this kind of enforcement, and I will be more than happy to dust that off again.”

Call Pastor Zac?

Rev. Zac Martin, pastor of The Next Step Community Church at 360 Schermerhorn St., two blocks from the troubled State Street block, told the crowd that he was disappointed that they hadn’t reached out to him about the drug problem. 

Martin said that he probably knows many of the drug addicts involved, since his church provides services to the homeless, drug addicts, and other people in need. 

“So please, if you’re on State Street, come and get my number. I can talk to these folks … I can probably tell you what’s happening specifically,” he said. “I work with the Parks Department, I work with the NCOs, I work with homeless outreach services.”

Martin said that a lot of drug activity was taking place at 16 Sycamores Park, right next door to the church.  

“I’m out there all the time and I’m aware of the situation,” he said. “Michelle on your block has my number; we’ve talked, we’ve sent along pictures from people who have thrown bricks through your windows. They aren’t people who are anywhere related to our church, but I know someone who knows someone, we care about this stuff, we work with Vocal-NY. 

“It bugs me when you don’t just knock on our door — we’re literally right behind you,” he added.

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