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Parents in Harlem say their children's walk to summer camp is littered with trash, illegal dumping and a growing encampment.
Residents told CBS News New York they started to see progress once our team started asking questions.
"It's disgraceful"
For most of the summer, 11-year-old Mariah Taylor has had to walk through piles of trash to get to summer camp on St. Nicholas Avenue in Harlem. CBS News New York spoke to her mother, Marsha Taylor, on July 16. She said the walkway was the dirtiest she has ever seen it.
"It's disgraceful that any parent, any child, any resident should have to walk through that space. People doing drugs," the Harlem native said. "The amount of garbage, the amount of human waste."
Mariah attends summer camp at Harlem School of the Arts, one of three schools near St. Nicholas Avenue between 141st and 145th streets. The other two are Neighborhood Charter: Harlem and Harlem Academy. Staff at Harlem Academy said this was an issue during the school year as well.
The Department of Sanitation said that it was scheduled to clean the area on Tuesday night, but an unhoused individual was on site. Because someone was staying there, DSNY said cleaning the area would "be a multiagency operation with [Department of Homeless Services (DHS)] and NYPD — not DSNY — leading the operation."
Similarly, the NYPD said that enforcement of illegal dumping can be complicated because if an area is being used by people experiencing homelessness, DHS must lead the response before enforcement or cleanup.
Walkway cleaned
By Wednesday morning, CBS News New York's cameras saw that much of the area had been cleaned with new signs from DHS posted along the walkway notifying anyone who may be using the area for shelter that there would be a cleanup there on July 28 and as well as outreach for those in need.
DHS said in a statement:
"DHS staff and our contracted outreach teams engage New Yorkers living on the street, build relationships, and offer connections to shelter, housing, and treatment options that meet their needs and can support their transition to stable permanent housing. These teams conduct regular outreach efforts along 145th Street and have placed 24 homeless New Yorkers from this area into shelter since March of this year. In advance of a scheduled clean up on July 28th, our teams will continue to visit the location daily to engage any individuals present and offer shelter and services. Our goal is to ensure that by the time a formal cleaning occurs New Yorkers who have stayed there are on their unique path toward stability and what remains is simply a clean-up of any items left behind."
Parents like Marsha Taylor are happy to see the progress but are hoping for long-term change.
"While we're grateful for the eventual response, we've had to go through half the school year and now half the summer with dealing with this area here," Taylor said on Wednesday after seeing the progress. "It should not take for the media to have to get involved before we see action and movement."
She added, "We want to make sure that this is not just a one-time fix ... and then I'm back here speaking to you in another three to six months."
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