China Overseas Chinese Network, July 27th. According to the U.S. "Overseas News" report, the problem of homeless people in the neighborhood of Amherst, Queens, New York, where Chinese businesses are concentrated, is becoming increasingly serious. Homeless people gather, drink, beat customers, smash cars, and make dirt. The chaos has seriously affected businesses that are in the economic recovery stage. Chinese businessmen said on the 26th that the number of homeless people in the surrounding area soared from 20 to 30 to 60 to 70. Instead of staying on the street, they took full possessions and set up camps on the street, making the community public security and health worrying. The original bustling commercial street , Now no one dares to go.
Elmhurst (Elmhurst) Whitney Avenue (Whitney Ave) and Broadway (Broadway) around more than 70 businesses, of which Chinese businesses account for 50%. Since the outbreak of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, homeless people have begun to gather on the streets in this area. The number of homeless people has soared from 20 to 30 in May and June to 60 to 70. The 110th branch of the city police sent a large number of police forces to drive away the homeless people who were nuisance to the business in May. However, according to the business's follow-up, the homeless people only changed their gathering points nearby.
Wang Hua, who runs a cage washing shop opposite a large number of homeless people, said that homeless people often use the restroom for a long time to take a bath and drink water. Alcoholic people stay in the shop and ask customers for money. In the last two weeks, one of their elderly customers was beaten by a homeless man, but fortunately he was blocked by others in the store. Customers of cage washing shops often complain about homeless problems, and the business of the shops has dropped by 30%. At the moment of the epidemic, no one dares to pass through the original bustling commercial street. Not only the shops, personally, he parked the car near the shops for a few hours, the windows of the car were smashed, and the personal belongings in the car were looted. Businesses and residents of all ethnic groups in the vicinity hope that the authorities will solve the problem of a large number of homeless people gathering and nuisance as soon as possible.
Chen Yi, the representative of Chinese merchants in Amherst, said that a street occupied by homeless people not only affects the business of surrounding shops and community public security, but is also very close to places where a large number of people such as subway entrances and supermarkets come and go. The homeless people throw domestic garbage and defecate. Waiting for the creation of sanitation problems also makes people worry about whether the epidemic will spread again. The nomads on this street can get food and tents aided by the non-profit organization Breaking Ground, and they worry that more nomads will gather.
About 120 nearby businesses and residents have dialed 311 to complain about the homeless problems, but these complaints will be closed within about half an hour and cannot be tracked and counted as data. He has repeatedly contacted the 110 branch of the municipal police and the office of city councillor Daniel Dromm. It is reported that the city police funding has been greatly reduced, the city police vagrant group was cancelled in mid-July, and the vagrant problem was transferred to the city vagrant service bureau (DHS). Due to the recent wave of anti-police protests, the police department is worried that forcibly driving away the nomads will lead the police into a whirlpool of public opinion of excessive law enforcement. The vagrant problem has not been resolved for a long time, and businesses that are harassed by the vagrant and unable to operate normally are complaining.
Joum said that due to the new crown pneumonia epidemic, they are seeing more and more people facing homelessness, unemployment and other lack of living needs. Its office has reported the situation to the 110 branch of the city police, and has contacted and cooperated with Breaking Ground, the outreach department of travellers. The current situation is still not optimistic, and they are trying their best to solve the problem. (Zhang Jing)