As of last week, the nature flood basin open space area at the interchange of RT21 & I-280 was suddenly fenced off & there are now Piles of dirt & rocks, concrete debris left by dumptruck.

As far as the PSE&g spot goes from my understanding from a guy that used to work security there years back there were mornings where it literally turned into a homeless and drug issue. Management was tired of cleaning up needles and a good number of ODs there as well. He told me it was deemed easier to fence it off then have to pay for the extra security and the liability

Damn, have we just really been anti homeless these past 3 years? Ranging from the ordinance charging unhoused folks 500$ for panhandling but mfs wifh actual cars and income $50, the reinforcement and lies regarding food permits for the unhoused, or denying unhoused residents vouchers they got from moving here which was only repealed via june of 2022.

That's what the guy told me He retired and lives in Florida now. I asked him before he left because I was walking around Newark and I do remember when it was unfenced. The amount of cost security is and if the city wasn't helping I can totally see Prudential just throwing their hands up and being like you know what fuck it fence it off. That whole downtown area is like Newark's crown jewel

Yea, but what pisses me off of is the lack of actual outdoor accommodations for unhoused folks here in Newark. All they really have is Penn Station, and Peter Francisco park which is pretty small. You'd think Millitary park would've been the perfect spot to house encampments but nah.

As far as I've seen, most of the folks are posted on that street between PF park and Penn Station, the ammout of Anti homeless infrastructure in some spots of downtown is beyond me.

Outdoor accommodations? You want this to turn into the literal crapshow known as LA or Portland? Where QOL has completely deteriorated due to the tent cities? You can't have downtown like that when it already suffers from a stigma of being a warzone.

Honestly, I probably would, its better than being setup on a sidewalk where a car can straight up run over your encampment or under a trainstation.

And I didnt say all of downtown.💀; just a park atleast.

With the ammount of Anti homeless infastructure here, you might as well go to penn station.

The same people who are opposed to development on the off chance that the residents who move in might not be "their people" are advocating for every empty lot, park and open space (both public and private) be turned over to the homeless to become open air drug markets and make shift accommodation. Does in not occur to these clowns that these parks they want filled with drug addicts, mentally ill and homeless are some of the few open spaces that are available to the residents of Newark! The article says as much! Before Prudential fenced up that space, it was open to the public! The proliferation of homeless at the site meant that they had to fence the place in due to liability issues. Now that space is lost to the public; the author nevertheless cannot make the causal connection; instead blaming the (big bad) business! That is what passes for progressivism today . A handful of clowns who live in places where they will never have to see a homeless person much less deal with one have duped a generation of mindless rubes into believing that allowing the unhoused rights that supersede that of ordinary people is somehow altruism!

The contradiction in terms cannot be more stark; yet the ideological zombies just cant see it! They oppose housing on the one hand; then pat themselves on the back with the other for "fighting" for the "rights" of the homeless to shoot up, shit and sleep where ever they take fancy. What grand altruism!! If this policy were anything bordering effective or even humane, one might be forgiven for supporting it, but the evidence is clear; city after city on the West coast that has adopted these policies are dealing with the dire consequences. Some of the best parts of downtown San Francisco now look like a permanent war zone.

Let's face it, the neo liberal ruling class have no interest in solving the problems of the masses; instead they traffic in platitudes and empty gestures; and no gesture is emptier then advocating for the downtrodden to rough it out in our parks and open spaces.

Lets get real; either we give a fuck about the homeless or we don't! If we do; then we must commit to building the mental health infrastructure, public housing and support services needed to ensure everyone is adequately house. If not then STFU and let the rest of us enjoy the few open spaces we have in peace!

The problem is the politicians give into the activists demands that penalties be done away with before lining up the rest of what will replace it first. What really needed to happen is You put in place shelters and drug rehabilitation and then you removed the penalties but don't do away with them entirely. What you do is you say here are the services If you as a homeless or a drug addict refuse to take them then we have to deal with you under the old laws. Because at that point you don't want help you just like being a public nuisance

How do “tent cities” cause a “deteriorated” cost of living… are you saying that homeless people make it cheaper to live in a city and thus LA is super affordable right now because of how many homeless there are or that people not being able to afford the cost of living and being forced to live in tents causes the cost of living to go up…?

Because neither is true… so I’m confused.

You give the entire system more credit than it is due. Activists; at least the ones that get the most air time are an arm of the establishment. Their purpose in not to create real change but to sell you what the establishment wants you to settle for. Creating mental health resources, affordable housing etc. cost money and acts to move resources from the rich to the poor. The establishment of both parties don’t want that so they contract “activist” to sell you a knock off version of progress. Let the homeless sleep rough and take a shit on every street corner, let drug use and petty crime go unchecked, focus education on identity instead of academics. The cost of these stupid and counter productive ideas are shouldered entirely by the poor but the activist don’t give a fuck coz they get paid upfront; funding , grants, speaking fees etc. there is a whole industry of clowns selling stupid ideas and suckers born everyday who buy into them🤷🏾‍♂️

At the end of the day if somebody can't make money they have no incentive. It's the American way my thing if people really want to improve life, you bus all these homeless people and drop them off in the rich neighborhoods and the country clubs. Like George Carlin said there is no Illuminati. There is no mass conspiracy group controlling the world. They all go to the same country clubs the same universities. They know what's good for them they don't need a meeting to make it happen

Edited. I meant QOL. Quality of life, which has deteriorated.