We are working on this issue with the retailer and the NH PD.

that is a daily occurence at Dunkin Donuts on york st too, anyone care to do anything about that. clients from the methodone clinic continually come there, in 10 yrs I have seen fights break out, drug deals between supossedly clean addicts occur, people sleeping at the tables or nodding off between bites of their bagel. Why should starbucks just be the ones to get something done?

point well taken, dd lover. i imagine the problems we described are not limited to where we alone have witnessed them. i only noticed it at starbucks because i go there on my way to work.

i think that any actions taken by starbucks could also be adopted by dunkin donuts or any other business with lingering clientele that is disrespectful or dangerous to others.

i am happy to see that town green is actively involved in this issue. many thanks, and let me know where i can help.

I agree. We have a small statewide business located in a beautiful office building on the Green. Most of our operating costs are rent, parking and taxes all apid to New Haven. We use other New Haven businesses to provide services to our office. Most of our clients are people who do not live in New Haven. I cringe everytime one of them has to go anywhere near the Green.(and I lived in Newark, NJ for a while) The criminal activity is obvious even to my 8 year old. The police are too busy dealing with pipes on bikes rather than cleaning up the Green

I think all should take notice of the hard work that Lt Sweeney and her Downtown unit have done this week to clean up some of the questionable daily activities at the corner of Church and Chapel and on the New Haven Green. Much of this activity spills into coffee shops, especially the shop on the corner of Church and Chapel. Arrests were made this week and we should all stay watchful and if questionable activity is notcied - call hte non-emergency number and report it. 203-946-6316

Thank you Lt Sweeney!

If you don't like the environment, why don't you just not go to starbucks instead of trying to have its underpriveliged patrons evicted? Starbucks is a private business, they have every legal right to decide who gets to hang out in their store, so if you don't like it there, then just don't go. Being able to order a frappucino without having to see or hear societies undesirables is actually not a constitutional right, as entitled as you may feel.

I'm not sure they're homeless.
I assume most of those loitering outside starbucks are drug addicts. We shouldn't equate homelessness with the crazy, loud, brazen addict behavior.

There are four different areas that surround that Starbucks location. Three of the four are areas that need to be fixed. Directly across the street is the green, but mainly - the CTTransit bus stop. That place could really use some help, especially if CTTransit want's to attract people, and not give themselves a bad impression.

Next, we have Chapel Street, towards the east. That entire section is very low class. It should be interesting to see how 360 State Street complains about it. Then, we've got Church Street. The fire-damaged building needs to be re-built, and once Gateway is built, I'm sure we can expect more pedestrian activity and maybe even some retail. Next section is the club district - that's fine. Just watch out at night.

Anyways, I'd really start with finding some money to redo the CTTransit station. Put some grass there, bushes, flowers, whatever. Get rid of those terrible wooden benches, urine all over them. Replace them with more modern benches. Redo the whole area entirely - new signage, schedules, put some paint on the road marking that it's for buses - I constantly see cars driving up and blocking the buses. Just redo it. Maybe the area will start looking nicer.

I totally agree with this issue. I'm sick of smelling the powerful urine smell that eminates from the Starbucks, Sprint Store and Sheesh hooka Lounge strip. The homeless make a living space of this area at nite and still hang around to become a menace to the working community in the morning. It has nothing to do with Starbucks. The homeless have used his area for a hangout since it was Burger King in the early '90s.

really? Are we really complaining about the atmosphere of a Starbucks? There is an easy fix to your "problem". Dont go to Starbucks. Support New Haven, go buy your coffee from a local business and perhaps while you are doing that you could remember that you live in a city with all the issue that a city brings. If you cannot reconcile mixing the population of New Haven with perhaps consider moving to Fairfield, which sounds like its more your speed.

to really?:

While I see your point (I myself prefer to go to Bru on Orange St. just a few blocks away) I think this issue is much larger than an individual's choice about where to get their morning pick-me-up.

Whether or not money spent at that Starbucks stays in New Haven, creating an atmosphere that is unfriendly to businesses and commercial activity right in the heart of our downtown is an issue that needs to be resolved.

Bru makes a terrible Latte! While Starucks is not a New Haven company they provide jobs for quite a lot of area people. Not too mention the lease money they pay for their locations. There would just be empty storefronts there with out Starbucks.

Despite Yale's billions of dollars, New Haven is a very poor city. Homelessness and drug abuse are rife. That's just how it is. We can't sanitize the city just to make it more palatable for timid rich people. The homeless have the same rights as the rest of us. I know it is unpleasant, and I don't like it either, but sometimes you just have to say, "that's life".

if you had read the original post, i am not a timid rich person who is uncomfortable with the concept of homelessness, i am an average joe (no pun intended) who doesn't want to see drug dealers enabled.
you think it is a solution to just say "that's life"?
i think it is a solution to confront addiction instead of allowing our community to be overrun with seriously dangerous activity.

Or, to paraphrase an earlier post, you could avoid the place and patronize a local business. Perhaps then, the city might have a bit more money to deal with pressing issues such as homelessness and drug addiction.

I couldn't agree more. As a male who works in the 900 Chapel Street building, I personally feel uncomfortable going into the Starbuck's on Chapel/Church street. I have witnessed numerous drug-deals on-site, individuals clearly under the influence lingering inside the premises and a general lack of concern amongst Starbuck's staff members and/or management. The City, landlord and Starbuck's management need to do more to insure that this very visible and highly-trafficked location downtown presents the image of New Haven that we are trying to portray to out-of town visitors and guests as well as residents. This is an embarrassment for the City.

Contact:
Starbucks Retail Customer Relations
(800) 235-2883
Mon – Fri 5 AM – 6 PM (PST)

Anonymous User:
Sounds like the homeless have more rights than us, if screaming "b*ow me" and dealing drugs are one of their "rights". If I behaved that way I'd be kicked out and probably in jail. Why spend your time telling other people what to be upset about?

This is a real problem, and one that Starbucks can hopefully address. Maybe NHPD can address it by policing the Starbucks?

Status says "ACKNOWLEDGED" so who did the ackkoledging and what does that mean to this post????

Folks this will only be fixed if enough people see it, vote on it, and call Starbucks and the NHPD to complain.

Let's see some actual pressure put on these organizations to fix the problem. NHPD should be coming by here at least twice a day, speaking to the people who are sitting around acting crazy, and reaching out--community policing.

Starbucks employees need to be proactive and call NHPD when the drug dealers and others start acting crazy.

I'm not a big fan of Starbucks with it's "hands-off" lackluster approach to being part of a community. Let's make them engage the community & clean up their act.

I live, work and play in New Haven; my entire life is lived out(on foot) within New Haven-proper. I love New Haven and believe this little city has so much to offer—culture, activities, events and a thriving day/night-life. Unfortunately, many people avoid coming into New Haven and consequently miss out on all our city has to offer because of the blatant and offensive criminal activities taking place on many of New Haven’s busiest streets. The corner of Chapel and Church Streets(Starbucks) is a prime example of just this. If Starbucks is unwilling to ‘clean up’ their storefront—inside and out—our city will suffer the consequences of their negligence. Letting this corner fester will only deter people from wanting to visit, live, play, or even invest in New Haven. We need to clean up all of these crime-ridden hot spots, but primarily the Starbucks on Chapel and Church Streets.

The Car-Less Lady

Car-less lady, right on. The green is in many respects the "face" of our city. If we allow it to be a lawless area, visitors will believe that our city is lawless.

Can anyone post the PDF poster of this issue at 360 state? do they have a residents bulletin board? the 180 residents who are there now would probably be interested.

David Streever, Thank you.

Joining forces with 360 State is a great approach. That said, I’m sure someone reading this could reach out to Mr. Becker, speak to him about this issue and ask for his support. Another great organization to involve on this issue is New Haven’s REX Development—www.rexdevelopment.org—they(and, I’m not doing them justice with this simple explanation) help market/grow the tourism-factor in New Haven County; they could suggests the negative consequences of this unwanted loitering and it’s direct effect on New Haven’s tourism industries. If we want to attract people to live, work and play here, we need to clean up these crime-ridden hot-spots, and stop letting these loiterers affect New Haven’s bottom line($).

Car-less Lady

Just watched police arrest someone inside Starbucks.

Great News!

Did anyone receive feedback on this from customer relations folks at the Starbucks phone number posted below?

This is the problem , all those people who feel sorry for the homeless, keep giving these scumbags spare change. If the homeless would stay away from drugs and alcohol, get a job and become a productive member of society things would be better for NH.
Remember the Shakespeare Lady? everyone thought she was so cute reciting those Shakespeare quotes... she made several $100's a day. Well, go to Niantic womens prison and see where that got her. At her end she was assaulting customers and police, thanks for the spare change she spent it all on Crack. ALL PEOPLE DO GIVING CHANGE IS SUPPORTING THESE PEOPLES INNER DEMONS!! I do understand some suffer from mental disorders but the majority are drug /alcohol dependent. BTW their hospital trip to detox costs the city over $500 just for the Ambulance ride alone!! So keep giving up your change Yalies...

Carless lady is right when she says:

"If Starbucks is unwilling to ‘clean up’ their storefront—inside and out—our city will suffer the consequences of their negligence. Letting this corner fester will only deter people from wanting to visit, live, play, or even invest in New Haven."

She probably remembers that it was one gunshot fired in Chapel Square Mall that spelled the bitter end for that place. Families stopped going there overnight.

I have a very good rapport with Starbucks managers and employees at that particular branch. Lets not blame them....they have done all they are allowed to do. Their hands are tied. They did remove the big comfortable chairs to help discourage sleepers, they rearranged and removed some hidden-from-sight tables behind that short wall. They are doing the best they are allowed to do. They cant just kick people out because then thats discrimination, they do clean but it gets destroyed very quickly by the public. They can only ask people to move from the front door if they are smoking or blocking the steps. Other then that, its up to the owner of the building to implement further action because its not Starbucks building.

Lets bring it back to perspective here, the issue lies with the people who are causing the disturbance and the cops that hang around do very little to get foot traffic moving and prevent loitering.

Rainy, snow and cold days are the worst and this business REALLY suffers.

Over the last several years, Starbucks and the NHPD have worked very hard to set a new standard of behavior in starbucks and I think this issue should be closed at this point. It doesn't feel like the starbucks that was reported in 2010.

-Win