Ah, but let me suggest that a cop on foot once in a while, stopping in to greet the shop keeper, buying a coffee (I'd buy, any time)... see and be seen.
A cop driving by? I don't know about anyone else but that never makes me feel very secure. If I were in a suit and tie and had a briefcase, maybe I'd be seen as the good guy I am. But otherwise, if there was a dust up, I'd be taken as just another bad guy.
On the beat? easy to walk up and say "hi" and be gone.
You can take the same neighborhood, and the numbers can be exactly the same but you can make it feel safe with a cop on the beat. Doesn't matter how safe you really are if you don't feel safe.

I have seen many drug related things happrning outside that deli almost every time i drive past it. Mostly its people smoking blunts right on the corner, right out in the open as if its all good. If you live next to that deli you SHOULD be calling the police every time you see criminal activity. EVERY TIME!

I do live on Cedar Street and I do call the cops all the time. With license plate #'s and descriptions. I'm a grown man I know what a drug deal looks like and yeah people smoke blunts all day in front of that store the owners do nothing. the paraphernalia is behind the cunter including mmany fruit flavored blunt wrappings as well as gross's of nickel and dime backs meant for dealers to package their goods. Witnessed the sale of these baggies with my own eyes. lets not forget the loud music which is near constant. Please don't make specific comments unless you live on that street and see it every day!!!

"I do live on Cedar Street and I do call the cops all the time. With license plate #'s and descriptions. I'm a grown man I know what a drug deal looks like and yeah people smoke blunts all day in front of that store the owners do nothing. the paraphernalia is behind the cunter including mmany fruit flavored blunt wrappings as well as gross's of nickel and dime backs meant for dealers to package their goods. Witnessed the sale of these baggies with my own eyes. lets not forget the loud music which is near constant. Please don't make specific comments unless you live on that street and see it every day!!!"

Question, are you a member of Kingston Neighborhood Watch?

Not as of yet but I have been thinking about it. Honestly I think I do all the things a neighboorhood watch is organized for. I call the police when necessary - I keep my part of the block clean - but I've been living on CedarSt. for six years and it's only gotten worse.

It's up to you. I had to ask because you seem like exaclty what the wach looks for in people.

If you'd like more information please check out www.kingston-ny-neighborhood-watch.com

Well, I wanted to see for myself, and yeah, when you live right there, you know more, you see more.

Thanks for the heads up.

Not to mention they sell ciggarettes and what not to minors, not trying to make myself look bad but they sold me ciggarettes all the time before I turned 18. They sell loose ciggs too? I don't know what kind of law or whatever there is against it but I know they shouldn't be doing it.

I use to live in Kingston and stayed on Cedar st at my cousins house alot during the summer months. At that time I was a teenager and the deli was not there...it was a bar that was shut down for very obvious reasons. You can find bad on any street anymore especially Henry, Cedar, Prospect... I was very pleased to see the deli open. It has very good subs always cheap and comes with a can of soda, great service, the gentleman who run the store are very polite, its very clean, the customers are friendly. Why target the store for other peoples behavior. For the people writing here about the deli who live on cedar street,imagine living in a apartment complex and having people "smoke blunts" outside of your house and the guy across the street looks down apon you?? Leave the deli where it is...it is great in many ways for the community. Children who live in within the area surrounding the deli can easily walk to the store without having to cross broadway. Mothers who have to run to the store only have a short walk. You can not blame the store for peoples behavior believe me almost everystore sells blunt wraps, that is in kingston, and plenty more never id'd me. Maybe you should start looking for real crimes... cause all this is just a waste of time, for the police and the people!!

*content removed by user request

Hi Poster,

One of the other things you SHOULD do is collect as much information as you can about this situation.

To Accurately Report a Problem:
Make sure it is something you saw or heard yourself! Hearsay won't help legally. Try to take pictures or shoot a quick video. A picture IS worth a thousand words!
Take note of:

Time of day
Area, address, cross streets
Vehicle Color,Makes and Models
Describe where this takes place (e.g., basement, side of building, etc.)
Gender: Male or Female and aproximates age
Ethnicity: White, Black, Hispanic, Asian
Height
Weight
Complexion
Hair color & Hair style
Eye color
Facial hair Scars, tattoos or other identifiable marks
Identifiable traits
Distinctive clothes or jewelry
Accent if any

We also have made available this form that you can download to fill it:

http://www.teamdarcyinc.com/forms/complaint.doc

Just click the link and then either OPEN or SAVE the document. It's in Mircosoft Word and you can then print it and fill it out.

If you need more forms or information about Kingston Neighborhood Watch goto

http://www.kingston-ny-neighborhood-watch.com

Please forward completed form to:

Info@kingston-NY-neighborhood-watch.com

AND/OR

Ulster County Sheriff’s Office
Det. Lt. Ed Brewster, Det. Sgt. Brian Robertson, Det Sgt. Dirk Bodd
380 Boulevard, Kingston, NY 12401
Email to: ebre@co.ulster.ny.us
Phone: 845-384-6232

or Police Lieutenant Egidio Tinti
City of Kingston Police Department
Telephone (845) 331 4766
etinti@kingston-ny.gov
etinti@ucletg.com

Correcting my post

http://www.teamdarcyinc.com/complaint.pdf

They do sell loose cigarettes to minors, I have witnessed it and they also let adults but cigarettes with a food stamp card, also witnessed.

Ya people have nothing to do!! They opend the store for the community and to help people who can't send kids all the way across town to get a soda or a cup of coffee! Come on people focus on something diff that would help the store or the community! Maybe more cops need to patrol the area on foot?? More cameras that actually work? Don't target one person! ** foodstamps cards also have cash in them which would make it legal to buy cigarettes with that card! And what store doesn't sell blunt wraps? Godforbid the govermant sells them!! No one is perfect in this world so maybe we should take another aproach at helping then actually shutting stores and shutting business down that provieds a work place for people!! Some people around that area would stuggle toward the end of the month if the store wasn't there! Cheap prices for sandwiches helps them stretch their money till the end of the month!

The problem is, We the People, is that there are plenty of hardworking people paying taxes, which goes towards food stamps, which is supposed to be designed so that people who need them can eat. That's why they're called 'FOOD' stamps. Cigarrettes are not food. I don't mind my taxpayer money going to help those less fortunate. But I resent that my money is going towards their smoking habit.

The store is not the main problem. The store clearly provides for the neighborhood. But the store should take responsibility to prevent loitering - that would hurt their business. They also should not sell cigarrettes to minors or with food stamps. But the answer is not to close them down - they just need to be investigated. Make it clear they can't just get away with it.

If you have evidence of them selling cigarettes to minors or something else illegal - report it! The police will not respond to just one report - report it as much as possible. Take pictures and record details. If you provide a time and the police can identify an individual, they can trace that purchase if it was done with food stamp money (because that is clearly illegal). As "we the people" points out, it is possible to have NON-FOOD STAMP money on a food stamp EBT cards. It is up to the store to determine that, and unless you can prove they are breaking the rules - throwing out accusations is not helpful.

I don't think the store is as much the problem as the kids having nothing to do. Let's reach out and get them involved with something constructive.

Things like this make all the difference!

http://www.facebook.com/KingstonNeighborhoodWatch?ref=mf#!/event.php?eid=125242664171822&index=1

Join us and help mentor some of the teens in that neighborhood. Even if its only for a day!

Gosh stop complaining. People here are just trying to make money because there are no jobs in this town. If you don't like it, move somewhere else.

No jobs... really... humm Let me see here.

Craigslist..

http://hudsonvalley.craigslist.org/search/jjj?query=Kingston&catAbb=jjj&srchType=A

Hudson Valley help wanted

http://regionalhelpwanted.com/p/jobs_city/1/Kingston/?SN=1

http://www.indeed.com/jobs?q=&l=Kingston%2C+NY

.. Nice try but there is work out there for those who WANT to work.

The problem is only getting worse. I've called the police several times in the past 2 months about people selling drugs and they have only responded once. People loitering in the front of the store 24/7 lately. When I called the police they said the store was probably letting the dealers keep thier good inside the store so that they wouldn't get caught holding. And to the person that said move if you don't like it I have a better suggestion: quit making excuses, blaming others and take responsibility for yourself or better yet why don't you move so the neighborhood can start to pick up.

109 Cedar Street
Kingston, NY 12401-5058
(845) 331-1218

Call them and complain everyday! I have called KPD and URGENT. We need to start putting pressure on these places ASAP.

I'm going to find out more information about who owns the propery and post their contact information aswell.

Maritza Estrada-Poupart
(845) 679-8139
4029 State Route 212,Lake Hill, NY 12448-0000

109 Cedar Street
Kingston, NY 12401-5058
(845) 331-1219 not 8

Had a conversation with the property owners.. they know about the problem. I'm going to be working with her to solve this problem. We all need to take a stand. The people who run that deli are very rude and hostile. These people are not on the lease for the deli, they just run it. The people on the lease are from the Rondout Deli downtown. Their number is 338-0186.

Also there is this black fat guy,with a white car that's always parked infront of that store,and him and his kids are always out there,allu see is hand to hand transactions.we should focous more on the people not the store owners, the people who run the deli can't kick those people out cause it would only cost them more problems and maybe fight or get robbed by black people, yeah they are arabs and have enought weapons,bombs,and what not to protect them selfs but everyone can still die some sort, so we shouldn't press on them a lot, I'm sure if we talk to them and enter from the right doors, they will work with us.

It's not about being black or Arab. It's about drug dealing dirt bags.. period.

Just want to let you all know that the owners of the store are going to everything they can to make it a safer place. they are going to be putting an end to all the "hanging out".

Chief Civil Officer Don Ryan from the Ulster Sheriffs office went with me to the deli. We spoke with the tenents, the business owner, and the property owner. The watch is very greatfull to have that support.

Please continue to update us, thru this site, about how they are doing.

in by inch the longest march, can be won, can be won
many stones can form an arch, singly none, singly none
friends by union what we will
can be accomplished still
drops of water turn a mill, singly none, singly none

keep on truckin'

last time i was on cedar street, 3 different guys at 3 different times tried to sell me crack that they were holding in their mouth in case a cop came, i saw a guy running from someone, threw a handgun behind that store, got beat up, and guess what, a cop was sitting across the street...what did he do? guess

Joe, that's good but not good enough. A cop? Just one? no car?
You are leaving out critical data. And you are leaving out date, time description. While you are a valuable witness, those omissions are deal breakers. Just time of day would have served to identify any officer you might have seen. What you described, as you described it, was was a very serious charge: who would want such an officer to serve another day on the force?

Anybody else notice the increase in the presence of neighborhood drug addicts and providers since the Sunoco on Broadway was shut down. It's great that the police were able to complete investigation like that but I hope they realize all the people that loiterd around that spot are gonna find a new spot. I've seen some of the same people outside the Cedar Street Deli recently and have also heard they buy benefit cards for half price also.

@Cletus:
If you have proof that the deli is also doing the half price deals, have you alerted the police? All these places should get shut down. If the police do know about it, you can guarantee that it will end up in a pending investigation.

I cannot say for sure if they are doing the half price deals but there is certainly large number of people hanging out on the corner about every hour on the hour and there are more and more young children and teenagers hanging around the stores front door and corner. They walk out in front of vehicles and show no respect to drivers. It is a wonder there hasn't been anyone killed or seriously injured because of this.

Also, those that pull up to "purchase" items from the store should LEARN to TURN DOWN THEIR stereos. There is no need for them to be so obnoxiously loud especially early in the morning and late at night. How the people right next to and accross from the store don't go out and beat the cars with baseball bats is beyond me. The noise is louder than the trains that come through up the street.

Ok, so if a number of local residents are unhappy with a businesses clientel, what is the course of action?
This issue comes up from time to time on this board, and It would be interesting if we could be partial in figuring out how to proceed without getting to emotional about profiling.
I dont have too many ideas. Anyone have a reasonable one?

They got good sandwiches yo

Things are worse than ever at the corner of Cedar and Prospect. Loitering is out of hand a drug sales in broad daylight are a common occurence. Calling the police a couple of times a week lately.

Seems like the city's policy of containment is still focused on this section of Midtown. Cedar St. is the new Henry St. It's like an open air market dealers barely try and conceal their activities. Too many drug delaers and drug houses to count. 4 or 5 just near the corners of Cedar and Prospect. meeting at the Boys and Girls Club Wed. at 4:30 to address delinquent youth. Maybe they should focus on the adults and parents in the neighborhood. How about maybe people's benefits and housing being dependent on their behavior and that of their children, Some states already do it. If you committ a crime, or your child does, you lose your benefits. Make people and parents accountable.

If the business is complicit with facilitating drug sales, then yes, authorities can step in.
But I bet the owners would just say "we cannot control what happens outside our doors."
I really do think businesses that willingly sell drug accessories marketed as tobacco accessories are facilitating drug use in the area. Why sell tools of the trade?

This is a bad situation.

This issue is very old. As I am sure there are still problems in the area, please open a new issues and address a problem that your neighbors can help you solve. Simply complaining is not helpful.

Thank you for caring.