Alleged Drug Addicts Turn Midtown Manhattan into ‘Shooting Gallery’

A group of alleged drug addicts recently took over an area of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, according to the New York Post.

“A cluster of junkies has turned Broadway into a shooting gallery, injecting drugs unhampered in broad daylight and then shuffling around in a zonked-out stupor, seemingly oblivious to the Midtown bustle around them,” the outlet reported.

The addicts also left used syringes in planters on 40th Street and Broadway and one local worker said they took over tables and shot up heroin all day long.

“There’s no police action, there’s no reach-out. There’s nobody preventing this, and you know we’ve had multiple calls to 311 but nobody really responds. It’s becoming a real problem,” said the man identified as James.

He added that the calls to 311 were “futile exercises.”

The Midtown streets normally filled with tourists have become a haven for drug users, Fox News’s Lawrence Jones told host Sean Hannity on Wednesday.

Jones continued:

We not only saw [people] shooting up. We also saw them prepping their drugs right in this area as well [Midtown], and of course, when I talked to residents and said, “Why arent the police enforcing the laws that are on the book?”, they blame the mayor for the “defund the police” message that he has, disbanding the anti-crime units. They say they feel like the officers that they used to see on a day-to-day basis feel like their hands are tied and they don’t want to lose their jobs or their livelihood.

Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) confirmed June 29 that he would cut $1 billion from the New York City Police Department (NYPD) despite a surge in violent crime, according to Breitbart News.

“I am excited to say that we have a plan that can achieve real reform, that can achieve real redistribution, and at the same time ensure that we keep our city safe,” the mayor reportedly said at the time.

However, an employee with a private sanitation company told the Post he had worked in the Midtown area for six years and the drug situation had gotten worse.

“Disappointing the way they discard all the syringes. It’s not the safest,” he explained. “In the last year, it’s gotten really bad. I’ve been seeing more syringes, discarded syringes, ever since they started coming in.”

In a statement on Tuesday, a City Hall spokesperson said the situation was “entirely unacceptable,” adding that “we will do everything we can to connect these people with drug treatment and help so they can get their lives back on track.”