Frustrated with a failing needle disposal program that seems anything but successful, the NYPD has resorted to telling people to stay away from areas where syringes have become more common- including Saint Mary’s Park in the Bronx.
30-year-old Mario Lopez experienced the NYPD’s needle woes firsthand when he took his six-year-old son on a bike ride through the Mott Haven area park, stopping to rest at a park bench near one of the receptacles.
Not taking any chances, the NYPD rolled up to Lopez and told him to move along.
“It’s strange,” Lopez said, “He said, ‘Try to keep moving, there is a lot of shooting up and a lot of needles.”
The NYPD has reportedly become frustrated with NY Mayor Bill de Blasio’s new needle receptacle program, which seems only attract more needles and drug crime and was only initiated after the New York Post wrote a scathing piece about the city’s drug problem.
“The newspaper gets involved, so the mayor pretends like he cares now, and [police] have to go there when they have real s- -t going on, shootings and robberies. It’s one of the most violent precincts in the city,” one “police source” allegedly told the New York Post.
One NYPD official reportedly referred to the needle boxes as a “stupid idea,” and noted that drug addicts aren’t concerned about police presence.
Following a review ranging from May 1 through October 24, it was found that only about 11 percent of the needles end up in bins, with Parks Department officials being forced to pick up over 60,000 needles off the ground.
NYPD spokeswoman Sergeant Jessica McRorie said police were not kicking people out of parks, but merely told them “to exercise caution and to be aware that hypodermic needles may be present in the park.”
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