Call your alderperson

The East Rock Alderperson unresponsive on the issue. She is more focused on strengthening the unions influence over Yale than public safety.

The East Rock Alderperson was more than involved last year when the camp was dismantled. It is wrong and unfair to characterize her as unresponsive and focused on union influence over Yale.

Care about NH, thank you for your support! I really appreciate it since I spend endless hours supporting a city I love and the residents that reside in this great city. JRM you obviously do not know what I stand for or where I dedicate my time. I suggest you reach out to me with any concerns you may have, my cell is 203-676-1067. I will be happy to answer any questions you may have. I look forward to your call. Anna Festa Ward 10 Alder, mother and community activist.

Lost a good neighbor in East Rock in Luigi Fiore , passed away this past weekend.

Anna, I did not post this issue with the intention of it becoming an avenue for individuals to criticize specific alders or city officials and I am sorry for JRM's remarks. However, I see that you have taken the time to address his remarks but not the issue that I originally posted.

Could you please shed some light on what, if anything, you or the city are doing about this homeless camp and the issue it is creating for us East Rock residents?

Concerned East Rock Resident according to LCI the encampment is no longer active. LCI makes routine inspections there and have not seen any evidence of an encampment. That area is also used as a passageway to get to Cedar Hill and Fair Haven. I am in constant communication with both LCI and the police, and the police also monitor the area. The police are usually good about getting rid of the panhandlers at the exit. I will reach out to them again to see what can be done. I will also have LCI do another walk through in the area.

Thank you.

There is an encampment. It's just a bit deeper into the woods, past the area the city bulldozed. Not sure whether it's inhabited by relatively decent sorts or the petty criminals described in this post. I think there may also be something close to an encampment under or adjacent to the Route 91 bridge, but I'm not sure about that one.

that's dumb. just because lci representatives sometimes drive down the on ramp and peek over doesn't mean there's not an encampment there that is witnessed constantly by people who actually live in and frequent the area. so far there seem to be three distinct east rock encampments reported here: one by exit 6 near where it was; one on the trail by english drive; and one increasingly spreading one (into the trees/bushes nearby) at the mill river under the highway by the skating rink. there are also drugs being sold and taken/done/experienced there.

City please respond

I can attest to the existence of these encampments - though the one near English Drive consists of just one (blue) tent. The woods further downriver, roughly where the long-term camp used to be, includes at least one large site (big blue tarp I think) fairly deep in the woods and one camper by the river - who happens to be throwing garbage and what look like bags of feces over the bushes/into the river. In addition, sleeping bags and other gear have appeared at the very nice riverside campsite. I have not been to the one near the rink, but there is definitely activity under the Route 91 bridge that is consistent with a nearby camp.

I think the City may have slipped up in evicting the long-term residents (who were reasonably honest, if messy) and bulldozing the area so as to make it easier to get in. The current crowd seems more undesirable. Alas.

Agreed. The people from the previous homeless encampment have simply moved across Willow St. right by the vacant hockey rink. Unfortunately I see these people multiple times per day and they are typically very high on drugs (specifically crack). Their encampment frequently uses open fire and their trash is littered throughout the field. My dog ran back there the other day and ate the food they had left behind. I am tired of seeing these people pace back and forth down State St. yelling, crying, panhandling, and exchanging drugs. The city needs to be aware of this issue and do something to help it!!

This camp is starting up again. There are panhandlers on that corner every day and the area around the Exit 6 off-ramp is littered with garbage. Last year our alderwoman and the city claimed that this camp does not exist, but I (and anybody that has eyes and takes that exit) see it daily.. If they are going to camp in the woods and hang out in this area they should at least clean up after themselves. The amount of garbage is disgusting and completely unsanitary.

Yes the homeless do make a mess , but before any homeless person was in that vicinity it had a litter and garbage problem, cars just toss it out

One can espy homeless camps on both sides of the Naugatuck and Housatonic Rivers but not much litter.

True. The whole city and my beloved East Rock park are also covered in garbage. Is there no trash clean up organization or anything like that?

Yes this needs to be dealt with: the homeless issue, the encampments that are let to thrive for so long that cleanup then becomes an issue, and also the more general issue of littering and dumping in East Rock Park and other public places. More needs to be done.

@Joseph: Yes, New Haven in general has a trash problem, and there are several specific threats to the parks & rivers. But the sheer quantity of garbage generated by these encampments is far beyond anything that gets tossed out of a car window or even dumped from the back of a pickup truck. We are talking about literally tons of waste piling up. As I've said before, I don't mind if someone wants to camp out and even get high in the woods, but they need to maintain a reasonably clean camp or else get driven away.

The encampment is indeed active again...I saw people filing in and out of it yesterday bringing in bags of who-knows-what (which will likely pile up or pollute what should be a lovely river for kayaking/canoeing).
Like most I'm sensitive to the plight of the homeless, but the city never learns from it's mistakes. Every year, they let the trash pile up, and then spend countless taxpayer dollars to haul out tens of TONS worth of waste at a ridiculous cost just before winter, and make a big political show out of it.

The state of our public parks is sad, but a lot of that blame falls on our fellow locals. I can't imagine how many full-time trash pickers/babysitters would be needed to walk around the parks picking up bits of trash. There's no money for that, and it shouldn't be necessary.

Well said, @Ravenclaw and @NHVCyclist, I completely agree!

Start calling the alderperson, What is being accomplished by posting on this site?

I would add that some of the trash or what looks like trash (usually in a pile) sometimes seems to be: 1., stuff (aka belongings such as bedding, pans handling signage, food, clothing, bags) left by these campers, panhandlers, and homeless people, as in their spot to stash things semi privately while they go about their day or a few days; 2. donations well-meaning people leave that may or may not get picked up (accepted) by other people, such as food, blankets, and clothing. No real point to this comment, just sort of adding that while much of it is junk not all of it is proper trash or litter. I do believe there is too much of it and an ebb and flow of the amount that seems to correlate to the population size of the camping/panhandling than can be accounted for by simple car-tossing litterers from cars. Also just noting the specific items (e.g. boxes, needles, sweatshirts, blankets) as opposed to like fast food wrappers and cups.

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