A New York City bookstore offering drug addicts services is in danger of being evicted, and some neighbors are relieved.
The New York Post reported Saturday the Bluestocking Cooperative Bookstore, located in the Lower East Side, offers people suffering from drug addiction clothing, food, so-called “harm reduction services,” and access to restrooms where they can shoot up.
Once the outlet highlighted the problem of drug addicted individuals taking over the area as a result of the store’s offerings, the shop’s landlord issued a 15-day warning in an effort for the business to handle the situation.
“The notice cited violations to Bluestocking’s lease agreement, including “unauthorized use of the premises as a ‘medical facility’ and creating an ‘unsafe environment,’ according to the document obtained by The Post,” the outlet said, noting the store has vowed to keep offering the services.
In a social media post on Friday, the Bluestockings Cooperative urged readers to help keep the store open by becoming a member.
“We are working with lawyers to fight our eviction, but it looks like it’s going to be a long process,” the post read:
A longtime resident of the area told the Post, “It is like a magnet for drug abuse — it’s really terrible … I would rather them not be here, so them getting evicted, for me, would be fine.”
It is important to note that in November 2021, then-Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) announced New York City was sanctioning its first shooting galleries for drug users in the United States, Breitbart News reported at the time.
In June, former police commissioner Bill Bratton said New York City supports drug addiction via vending machines that offer crack pipes at no charge and Narcan, according to Breitbart News.
He stated:
Instead of trying to get people away from drugs, we have policies now where we have vending machines to encourage them to stay on drugs. We’re going to make it safer for you to use drugs so you can spend the rest of your life not trying to get off drugs but to stay on drugs. What happens when you stay on drugs? You want the next high. You want the next hirer high. You graduate from marijuana. You graduate to heroin. You graduate to the next thing. That’s the problem with addiction. There’s never enough drugs. There’s never enough high.
According to the recent Post article, the landlord’s lawyer, Lawrence J. Silberman, said he and his client have tried to resolve the dispute with the bookstore to avoid eviction.
“My client simply seeks responsible and safe use of the premises for all interested parties, including the community, the neighbors and first and foremost residential tenants of the building,” he commented.