Mayor Eric Adams and local officials celebrated the reopening of Roberto Clemente Plaza while committing to addressing disorder in the South Bronx. Despite these efforts, residents expressed skepticism about the city's ability to create lasting change. Many believe the measures will only be temporary and do not address underlying issues such as homelessness and drug use. One local resident noted that efforts to clear the plaza have simply pushed individuals to other areas, rather than providing real solutions to the ongoing challenges faced by the community.
"Business owners of the South Bronx are fed up, and you know what? We are fed up as well," the mayor said on July 16. "We are not going to tolerate this type of disorder anywhere in our city, in general, and specifically here in the South Bronx."
Shawana Dubose, a 47-year-old mother of two, said that she doesn't think the city's efforts to clean up the notorious open-air drug market in The Hub will outlive the attention of the media. "As soon as they leave and take these [barriers] down, it's gonna go right back to the same thing," Dubose said.
Dubose said that while the Hub and Roberto Clemente Plaza needed to be cleaned up, the people who used to overwhelm the area had simply moved on to continue their drug use in other locations. "They just moved," Dubose said. "Like right now, they just literally moved to the corners [of the streets]."
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