On Halloween night, two teenage males were shot near the McDonald’s at 2049 Broadway and West 71st Street. One of the victims is a student at the nearby Martin Luther King High School. While no arrests have been made, the incident has prompted the community to confront gun violence, a reoccurring issue in the area.
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The West 71st Street Block Association has proposed ten measures to enhance the safety and cleanliness of Sherman Square Pedestrian Plaza, the area near McDonald’s between West 70th and 71st streets. Key suggestions include increasing security by ensuring police presence in the area from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. and having McDonald’s station a security guard inside the restaurant during the same hours.
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The block association has also called for the removal of Little Italy Pizza’s sidewalk seating, which currently lacks a permit in the city’s sidewalk café database. They propose prohibiting sidewalk permits for businesses in the area, citing congestion and obstructed pedestrian flow. Additionally, they recommend removing all street vendors, except for the existing fruit cart and newspaper stand. Other suggestions include relocating Little Italy Pizza’s garbage bins from the curb, removing bike racks from the plaza, and installing a bike corral in the existing curb lane on the west side of Amsterdam Avenue between West 70th and 71st streets. The association also advocates for a shared trash storage container for local commercial businesses. The plan also calls for daily sidewalk cleanings and Sanitation Department enforcement of business sanitation responsibilities.
The area has seen several shootings since 2021. On October 28, 2021, a man in his 70s was shot near the same McDonald’s. In August 2022, a man was shot in the foot at Lincoln Convenience, a now-closed smoke shop. In March 2023, a 17-year-old student from Martin Luther King High School was shot twice and staggered two blocks back to school.
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“We’ve got to deal with the young people. We got to find something else for them to do,” said Council Member Gale Brewer in a phone interview with ILTUWS. Brewer pointed out that Martin Luther King High houses four or five high schools in the same building. “Some are fine, and others need help,” Brewer noted, adding that she’s focusing on these issues and working on a plan. She emphasized that the community is coming together with ideas, and the Department of Transportation is also working on a proposal for the plaza and surrounding area, though she wasn’t familiar with the specifics.
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Brewer agreed that a police presence at the McDonald’s is necessary for the foreseeable future, and that the bicycles need to be removed. ILTUWS has been observing a police presence inside and outside the fast food restaurant recently.
When asked about the multiple shootings in the area as an unresolved issue, Brewer responded, “It needs to be solved, even before the shooting, it needs to be solved. The kids, the bikes, the garbage—it doesn’t gel. It’s a space that needs attention.” Brewer believes the latest shooting is bringing everybody together and credited the West 71st Street Block Association for their 10-point plan (you can view it here). Future meetings are planned to stay vigilant on the matter.
Seen posted on Friday
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Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal said in a statement to ILTUWS: “I think the suggestions from the West 71st Street Block Association are sensible and straightforward, including a renewed police presence, bike rack removal, and containerization of trash. We also need to engage the local high school administration to ensure that young people have options for after-school activities, as opposed to congregating on the plaza. I plan on meeting regularly with Council Member Brewer, Assembly Member Rosenthal, the precinct, the block association, and other stakeholders to address the sense of disorder that permeates the plaza and pursue the block association’s suggestions.”
“The West 71st Street Block Association is grateful that our elected officials and the police responded immediately to provide a police presence in that spot on school days. However, with one shooting each year in the area, we need to maintain a sense of urgency around implementing solutions to this dangerous plaza area. Someone may be killed in the next shooting, and we cannot tolerate these conditions,” said Katina Ellison, block association co-president in response to the recent shooting.
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We need the Guardian Angels!!
6 p.m. is not late enough. 72nd and B’way is also a station that has a lot of fare beaters. The staff can do nothing. The cops just seem to be looking down all the time. I guess they are trying not to be defunded by people who don’t respect them. Yes, I am being sarcastic.
I live at the 70th, Amsterdam and Broadway intersection. I disagree with some of the recommendations. As neighbor and a city planner, I see that the outdoor tables create a sense of community- including for the teenagers. Outdoor tables also promote safety. I like the fact that coming off the subway at night there are plenty of people around. This is a busy and generally cheerful spot. The delivery people who sometimes congregate there are the ones who quickly deliver hot and cold food orders throughout the UWS.Certainly the bike racks do not create harm. I don’t want to live near a vacant plaza area– I want to feel like I live in New York!
Can someone explain how removing bike racks reduces crime?
Elected officials have known and observed this problem for years. What is taking so long to implement changes? Photo-ops in front of McDonald’s is not good enough. We need action now!
Yeah Brewer has been burying her head in the sand on this specific issue for YEARS. Constantly canceling meetings. I didn’t even vote for her this year, can’t remember if I left it blank or wrote someone in.
These crimes are way too close to Grays Papaya for my liking.
Relocating the bike racks, not removing. The delivery workers are a part of the community but the bikes have taken over the racks. Most of these workers only lease the bikes with other riders, so the bikes never actually leave. Just the batteries go home.
Little Italy Pizza does nothing to maintain the cleanliness of their sidewalk let alone the neighborhood. Their garbage and their seating area are the main source for rat issues in the area. They are in constant violation of sidewalk seating & dept of sanitation regulations.
The plaza and the neighboring blocks need improvements and seem to always get overlooked in comparison to blocks to the North and South. Where’s the BID for one of the busiest intersections in the UWS???
Something needs to finally be done and public discourse is a good start.
I love how this is right near where they wanted to put the e-bike delivery workers “hub” was supposed to be a year ago and that was “such a fantastic plan for the delivery workers”. Now they call it a violent troublesome spot. This city’s officials are a joke and are the worst at their jobs. What more proof do you need?
Things started getting worse ever since Gray’s Papaya started raising their prices. The people are upset. It’s understandable.
Council Member Brewer says that (a part of the solution to the gun violence problem) is to find other things “for the (high school) kids to do,” but how are we so certain that most of the perpetrators of the shootings have been students from that high school? In my long observations in the neighborhood of hundreds and hundreds of students coming out of that school, year after year, I have never seen a student doing anything objectionable.
How many of the past perpetrators of shootings there have been brought to justice, and were they given effective deterrent penalties? That would be a good question for Senator Hoylman, as he is involved in making our laws.
Scott, I don’t know how it is possible that you have never seen any students doing anything objectionable! I have witnessed many instances of worse than objectionable behavior. Constant loud cursing and screaming at each other and pedestrians. Loud obnoxious music blaring. Disrespectful behavior such as not stepping aside to let people pass especially the elderly. Several times i have experienced my husband (who uses a walker), close to being knocked over. Gambling and drug dealing. Smoking both cigarettes and marijuana in the park on West 71St. This little park used to be a wonderful place to sit quietly and read. it was especially great for elderly people who were unable to walk the distance to either Central or Riverside park. Now you cannot enter this little park. it is filled with young students who are doing drugs, smoking cigarettes and marijuana, blaring music and yelling. I’ve reported this to Gale Brewer several times and have called the police. Nothing is ever done.
How about shutting down the illegal marijuana shop in that row of stores??? An unattractive nuisance!
Yes, the reason kids are shooting each other is outside seating, garbage receptacles, dirty sidewalks and bike racks. Our politicians working/thinking hard to get to the heart of the problem!
agreed that sidewalk seating isnt causing crime, but it is a pretty blighted area, for such a large space/’plaza’ in front of one sherman square, in a very safe and lively neighborhood. theres a lot of great things that have been done all over the city to make public areas/plazas safer and more comfortable. im not sure if the building or city own the area but it feels like something the city can improve with existing tools (planters, benches, bike corrals etc.).