The city of Albuquerque removed the homeless from a park on Tuesday that had become a popular camping spot in the International District.
Campsites were cleared by Tuesday afternoon from Phil Chacon Park on Southern Avenue SE, east of Louisiana Boulevard.
One camp included a queen-sized mattress with a pillow and blanket right in the middle of running paths.
Neighbors say they are fed up with it.
“Well, we got a mattress, pillow, blanket, shoes, and somewhere around here we probably have some human excrement,” neighbor Robert Feuer. “I don’t think it’s fair that we have to put up with this for two months - at least two months - and multiple calls to the city a letter to the mayor and nothing gets done. This is a real sanitary mess here.”
Feuer says he reported the camps three times this summer and wrote a letter to the mayor with no response. In fact, some say one neighbor even works for the city and has tried to report the problems, but the campsites were still there.
Eyewitness News 4 called the city on Monday and within an hour we were told it would be taken care of by 7:30 a.m. Tuesday. The city said it never received a single 311 call about the problem.
“It’s a problem that occurs every summer or in the warmer months,” said city spokesman Chris Ramirez. “What we have done today is organized Joy Junction [and] our
Jeremy Reynolds, founder of the Albuquerque homeless shelter Joy Junction, says mental health issues prevent many homeless people from getting help but it doesn’t mean they should sleep at a park located near a school.
“While not disturbing to me, it was not the right place for him to be. It could have been very distressing to young kids, parents,” said Reynolds.
Joy Junction workers plan to go out there weekly to see if they can help anyone sleeping there get some shelter.
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