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Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., on Wednesday sounded the alarm over an "open air drug market" in a Bronx business district where addicts and prostitutes are often seen, saying New York City has become a "bystander" to the lawlessness.
For at least the past year, Torres has been trying to raise awareness of drug use and drug trafficking at The Hub in the South Bronx.
"Despite my repeated pleas and multiple announcements of multi-agency operations—often launched with great fanfare—the City is no closer to solving the public health and safety crisis that has taken hold of the South Bronx's Hub," Torres wrote in a Wednesday letter to Mayor Eric Adams.
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Rep. Ritchie Torres tours The Hub, a commercial business district in the Bronx that he said has turned into an open-air drug market. (Rep. Ritchie Torres)
"The City must demonstrate a renewed whole-of-government commitment to reclaiming the Hub from the grip of drug trafficking and return it where it rightfully belongs: to the people of the Bronx," he added.
The Hub, home to Roberto Clemente Plaza, comprises more than 300 storefronts, 50 commercial properties and attracts more than 3.3 million people annually.
Locals have been subjected to watching addicts inject opioids in full public view, including in front of children, Torres said. The environment has created a "climate of lawlessness and disorder" in the area, he said.
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Rep. Ritchie Torres, a Democrat from New York, speaks during a House Financial Services Committee hearing investigating the collapse of FTX in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2022. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
"The Department of Transportation has effectively lost control of Roberto Clemente Plaza, which has become a nightmare for quality of life, public health and public safety – delivering no benefit to residents," Torres said.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the mayor's office.
"The Adams administration agrees that the decades-long issues plaguing ‘The Hub’ in the Bronx are unacceptable, which is why we brought our ‘Community Link’ model to the neighborhood — a multi-agency operation of surged resources to address substance abuse, mental health, homeless outreach, sanitation, and other quality-of-life issues that prevent this part of the South Bronx from reaching its full potential," an Adams spokesperson told the New York Post.
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The business district has been plagued with quality of life issues for some time. In 2021, business leaders sent then-Mayor Bill de Blasio a letter demanding he do more to address rising crime in the area.
