Ewen Park has become homeless campsite

While a perceived homelessness crisis dominated headlines over the summer, prompting Mayor Bill de Blasio to launch a new initiative to deal with the matter, homeless encampments remain uncommon in Riverdale.

A rare example, some residents say, can be found in Ewen Park.

“In the evenings, you can’t really go to the park anymore,” said Deena Fellner, a landlady who lives and works at a house near the park. “If we had more police attention, these people wouldn’t be hanging out there.”

She and other Riverdalians said they feel increasingly threatened by the homeless people who sleep at the park at night, hang out during the day and use the area as a bathroom. 

“There’s a man sleeping on the steps from Johnson to Riverdale Avenue. People going to work in the morning have to literally step over this man,” Elizabeth Dougherty said at a recent meeting of the 50th Precinct’s Community Council.

She added that she and her husband, who take their dog for regular walks at the park, have witnessed a man openly urinating and defecating in the evenings. Ms. Dougherty also said at the meeting that a friend of hers had encountered a homeless man masturbating in front of her in the park. It was unclear whether they were talking about the same man.

Ms. Dougherty said she reached her breaking point when her dog disappeared into some shrubbery and reemerged covered in what she described as “human excrement.”

“They’re using this park as a bathroom,” she explained. “I feel very violated. It’s disturbing.”

Capt. Terence O’Toole, the commanding officer of the 50th Precinct, said he recently become aware of an increased homeless population in Ewen Park. Although he and his fellow officers have received 311 complaints on the matter, Capt. O’Toole said their hands are tied if complaints are anonymous because it makes follow-ups trickier.