Nearly a year after The Post reported that drug addicts had turned the 181st Street 1 station into a shooting range, the state of the transportation hub has changed, with half-naked addicts roaming platforms covered in human waste. It’s getting worse.
The Post reported this week that addicts threw hundreds of needles and orange caps onto the tracks at Washington Heights Station, while a man without pants covered in truck marks was seen walking uptown amidst sharp objects. I witnessed the familiar sight of a man staggering down the platform.
At either end of the platform were piles of human feces.
Exhausted passengers, many with children, hurried past the needles, holding their noses to block out the horrible stench.
“If we were near Manhattan, where wealthy New Yorkers live, they would be disgusted, but we are in a minority area,” NYCHA Administrator Candido Betances said of the MTA and city officials. he told the Post, referring to
“You have to watch out for that guy in the corner who’s awake or screaming,” the 23-year-old added. “You have to be careful, you can’t relax.”
MTA officials and straphangers told the Post that the traffic stop during the pandemic coincided with the opening of an overdose prevention center just three blocks away in November 2021. The descent into the drug den at the hub was said to have “exploded”.
“This station has become a crack den” Jesus Ayala of Straphanger furious at X; On Monday, he posted a photo of an encampment with five vagrants living on a subway platform.
“We shouldn’t have to go through this.”
According to the NYPD, the number of drug arrests in Transit District 3, which includes the 181st Street station, has increased 136% so far this year, reaching 78 arrests through March 31st (compared to 33 at the same time in 2023). subject).
The overall number of crimes in the transit district decreased to 35 as of March 31, compared to 50 for the same period in 2023.
Still, straphangers called for more police presence on subway platforms to deter illegal drug activity.
“Sometimes I see people using the platform, but there’s no police stationed there all the time,” said second-grade teacher Stephanie Jacobo.
“If the city is going to clean the subway, it has to be consistent.”
An NYPD spokesperson said officers are responding to local complaints about the 181st Street station, noting that officers have conducted more than 700 directed patrols at the station.
“There is still work to be done, but our staff is working harder than ever,” the spokesperson said.
“The NYPD dispatches officers to locations where crimes have been reported or in response to community complaints.”
An MTA spokesperson warned that while subway platforms are cleaned daily, the tracks are cleaned every 30 days, and that cleaning the tracks too often could disrupt service.
