South Siders Complain Of Late-Night, Alcohol-Fueled CrimePOSTED: 8:35 am EST March 1,
2007 PITTSBURGH -- The bar business is booming on Pittsburgh's South Side -- but some say that's a problem.Bars line East Carson Street, where drinks are often cheap because of fierce competition, and neighborhood residents are complaining of late-night lawlessness on weekends.Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and city department heads attended a public meeting Wednesday night, where South Side neighbors shared their horror stories and asked for help to make it all stop."Public drunkenness, threatening our lives. We've had people who say they will destroy our property and beat us up," Susan McCcoy said. "I've been threatened by people twice my size and half my age -- every kind of human waste, men and women."When McCoy asked neighbors to stand up if they had ever seen property damage, assaults or prostitutes soliciting customers, almost everyone left their seats and raised their hands."Come over, bring your kids to our house on Saturday night for a sleepover and hear what we have to listen to," one woman said.Ravenstahl said he plans to set up a task force of citizens and city leaders to address the situation."I think there are ways we can do it," Ravenstahl said, specifically mentioning policing and code enforcement.McCoy acknowledged that there may not be room in the budget to add police officers in the neighborhood, and that local quality-of-life issues take a back seat to more serious crimes."We understand that if someone is being murdered, raped or robbed, it takes precedent over someone throwing up on our sidewalk," McCoy said. "But what are we supposed to do then? Because there's no money, are we supposed to put up with it?"She suggested cracking down on "not just the drunks and the drunken drivers, but people who break zoning laws, people who are not considerate with their trash."City Councilman Jeff Koch, who represents the South Side, is seeking an ordinance to prevent new liquor licenses from being issued to establishments within 100 feet of existing bars. So far, his attempts have failed. Previous Story: Plan To Limit Bars Shot DownRelated Links: More Allegheny County NewsGet RSS | E-Mail Alerts Copyright 2007 by ThePittsburghChannel. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
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