{"id":33,"date":"2015-07-23T17:55:51","date_gmt":"2015-07-23T21:55:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/herkimerblog.wordpress.com\/?p=33"},"modified":"2018-04-17T13:10:30","modified_gmt":"2018-04-17T17:10:30","slug":"33","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/herkimerpost.com\/index.php\/2015\/07\/23\/33\/","title":{"rendered":"Herkimer’s Slumlords and Drug Traffickers"},"content":{"rendered":"
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333 Pleasant Ave Herkimer, Home of Joyce Barton and Douglas Barton<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

You might think it\u2019s a no-brainer to talk to your neighbors about your street. Well, after a year of living here, we have, and been informed that local slumlords, owning at least 19 homes in the area, ten of them on Pleasant Ave., Herkimer, make tidy incomes from HUD\u2019s subsidized Section 8 housing vouchers program.<\/a> The landlords are paid directly by the county housing authority. Though required to maintain their Section 8 properties in compliance with HUD Section 8 housing performance standards<\/a>, you\u2019ll often find these homes in disrepair both outside and inside, in direct violation of HUD requirements and Herkimer zoning codes<\/p>\n

On Herkimer’s Pleasant Avenue, you\u2019ll find some of it renters, both Section 8 and private, have criminal histories, abuse drugs and their children and traffic drugs. This unwitting but successful connivance between Herkimer’s slumlords and drug traffickers has emboldened the Pleasant Avenue’s criminals with a sense of ownership of street and created a menacing sense of anarchy for homeowners. And made Pleasant Avenue a sanctuary for criminals, a Mohawk Valley pirate hole. But it’s only succeeded because of a silent third party, the Village of Herkimer, whose failure of governance is seen through the condition of the street’s rental properties and its lackadaisical policing. Pleasant Avenue’s volatile mix of besieged homeowners and low-income renters can only become a peaceful, if uneasy one with a regular and effective police presence.<\/p>\n

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State Police Drug Raid, Brandon Hart Residence, 331 Pleasant Ave., Herkimer, NY (8\/1\/14)<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

All residents must realize that private property means private. My driveway is not your play area. Streets are for automobiles and not ballgames and boisterous gatherings. There are many games that can be played on the grass in backyards: basketball, badminton, volleyball and croquet. Reading books aloud can be fun, too. You\u2019ll find it cooler and safer in your own backyards. Hint \u2013 Most children play in the backyard or at a school yard, and not in the middle of the street, especially for hours on end, in front of the homes of people their parents don’t like.<\/p>\n

The appalling, dangerous and unpleasant traditions that have been allowed to develop here on Pleasant Avenue in Herkimer over the last 4 years are at odds with neighborhood safety. We are entitled to the same\u00a0 and peaceful and quiet enjoyment of our homes as the rest of the rest of the Village of Herkimer enjoys. We pay taxes for municipal and state services. We expect street brawls, disorderly conduct and\u00a0 harassment and mob menacing to be nonexistent or immediately squelched by a prompt, firm and consistent police response.<\/p>\n

Herkimer is truly one of the most beautiful places to live anywhere. But it\u2019s important to feel that all of our community is safe and that residents respect each other rights. For this to happen, we have our work cut out.<\/p>\n