Catenary lights above Nagle (Image: @blitzurbanism)
With reporting by Nova Berger, CHS Intern
District 3 representative Joy Hollingsworth says a mix of safety initiatives, increased police presence, support for local businesses, cleaning up the neighborhood, and more resources to help with people struggling with mental health, addiction, and homelessness are needed to fully address safety concerns in Pike/Pine.
“I’m embarrassed about what’s been going on in the neighborhood,” Hollingsworth said Thursday in a meeting with Capitol Hill business representatives organized by the Greater Seattle Business Association that followed a neighborhood tour this spring that gave Hollingsworth and officials from Mayor Bruce Harrell’s office and the East Precinct a first-hand look at the challenges neighborhood business and property owners say are the result of open drug dealing and drug use and street disorder in the area surrounding Cal Anderson Park and the Broadway and Pike QFC.
A man had just “dropped trow right in the street” in front of her on the way to the meeting with Hollingsworth, one business owner complained.
The situation around Broadway and Pike and on the edges of Cal Anderson needs emergency attention, attendees at Thursday’s session agreed but they and Hollingsworth acknowledged that even issues as seemingly simple as providing public restrooms are not easy in present day Seattle. Cal Anderson’s bathroom is typically busted or locked — or locked and busted — and chemical toilets in the area are quickly trashed. During the April public safety tour, one was set on fire.
Business representatives at Thursday’s meeting said problems around the area are starting to stack up.
Michelle Millman of Cancer Pathways, at the corner of Broadway and Union where Thursday’s meeting was held, said her organization recently had to take a major step to provide better security.
“After 23 years, this weekend, we had to install a fence around the building,” Millman said. “Our volunteers cleaned up the front porch last weekend but over the last three days it was trashed again. Deep down it makes you sad. Our front porch is being peed on.”
Another representative from nearby Stoup Brewery said trash in general was adding to Pike/Pine’s problems. “There’s garbage and plastic bags on the streets. Anything to help with that. It’s hard to run your business when you have to clean up,” Lara Zahaba said.
Meanwhile, Capitol Hill business owner Geneva Sullivan of Espresso Vivace said employee reluctance to interact with Seattle Police officers makes handling day to day issues even harder.
Hollingsworth at April’s safety tour
The concerns are larger than trash and human waste. In April, a woman was hospitalized in an overnight shooting in the parking lot above the Broadway and Pike QFC. Last spring, the drug trade on Nagle turned deadly. CHS reported here on the aftermath and hopes for improvements around the park following the murder in the street of brothers Ray and TT Wilford.
Thursday, Hollingsworth described a mix of what she says are near-term and long-term changes that need to happen to help the area recover.
A key focus she says must be “reinvigorating” Cal Anderson Park. The city’s increased spending beginning two years ago to add new parks rangers to patrol Seattle’s public spaces is helping, Hollingsworth said as will renovating the restrooms. The Cal Anderson Park Alliance is also hiring an “activation manager” to shepherd gatherings and events in the park and the nearby AIDS Memorial Plaza.
In December, the city cleared the Black Lives Memorial Garden installed by protesters during the 2020 demonstrations. Seattle Parks said the garden would be removed for a planned “turf restoration” project in Cal Anderson’s southern grass bowl area that officials said is needed “to host gatherings and large events” as part of its “intentional design as a natural amphitheater and proximity to electrical and water hook-ups.”
Hollingworth said there is also a public art initiative moving forward partnering with local artists to decorate trash cans and the bathrooms, deterring graffiti.
“Public art, as well as having someone there is crucial,” Hollingsworth said, pointing to the success of similar programs like in Seattle’s Be’er Sheva Park.
Hollingsworth said the East Precinct has also increased its presence on Pike and Pine streets which has reduced “unwanted activity by 30% near grocery stores,” the official claimed. The councilmember said she has asked for a commitment to continue this increased police visibility throughout the summer to deter crime.
Hollingsworth has also said her office is starting discussions around extending a similar program to the $15 million-a-year Downtown Seattle Association’s ambassador program up into Pike/Pine that would put workers onto streets to help keep sidewalks and alleys clean and deal with low level public safety issues. That program could be paid for by fees levied on nearby businesses and properties.
Finally, Hollingsworth told the business representatives assembled Thursday that the Seattle Department of Transportation’s enforcement efforts are undertaking a crackdown on unlicensed food vendors. During April’s safety tour, some businesses complained about unwanted hot dog stands and waste, loud music, and “obstruction” on the sidewalks. A formal program allowing “storefronts to choose their own food vendors” has been proposed but there is not currently a legislative effort attached to the initiative.
Meanwhile, there was a small glimmer of hope.
New catenary lights strung above Nagle this winter are finally being noticed this spring. Leftovers from spending on aesthetic as part of Mayor Harrell’s downtown activation plan, the Nagle light project survived months of city permitting issues to finally installed and activated on the street just off Pine west of Cal Anderson where street disorder and violence has been an ongoing issue.
“Bad things don’t happen in the light,” Hollingsworth said Thursday.
The GSBA will continue to hold month Capitol Hill safety meetings, the group said.
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Who asked for MORE cops? No. Not here.
I appreciate the increased presence as someone who lives on Pike and shops at that QFC.
As a black woman who is harassed by police here, they do NOT make me feel safe.
As a black man who’s lived in Seattle for over 20 years, I’ve only dealt the police once while here. Ironically he was a black cop giving me a ticket. I understand your concern but I’ve had more negative interactions with racist homeless street addicts on Cap Hill than racist cops. I welcome the additional police presence.
Sorry to hear that. A lot of us other BIPOC people want more presence, so you don’t speak on behalf of everyone.
I want more police presence.
To be fair the people who voted for Joy H. The last council election was a proxy vote on police and the pro-police people won in a landslide.
Yay. Independents!
Council takes advantage of having no young person vote on off-election years. It’s stupid they do this. Yes more young people should vote blah blah blah but they need to move it to an even year.
It could not be easier to vote in Seattle. The ballots are literally mailed to our residences postage paid. The voter guides are printed in myriad languages. There is not a single excuse one can make for not voting; not age, race nor gender and certainly not if it’s an even or odd year.
Elections have consequences. I’m sorry your candidate lost.
Or maybe they could fill in the bubble and put their ballot back in their mailbox. It already comes directly to your home with ample time and requires no return postage. How much easier do you need it to be… self licking envelopes?
Yeah, blah, blah, blah. Vote or stop complaining.
Why? they mail the ballot to your door! People including young people don’t vote because they are to lazy!!!
I voted for Joy H. She’s been more visible and involved in D3 than Sawant was, especially during her final term.
True but that doesn’t mean anything. I just care about results not performative stuff.
Happy to see more cops. I remember the 90’s the last time response times were so poor because of understaffing. It was soooo fun to see the fire department show up and just sit up on their truck and watch the out of control guy assault his girlfriend…. Yeah, let’s go back to that.
@Jesse: your neighbors (and neighborhood shopkeepers), who are tired of the crime, the disorder, the general lack of safety in our beloved neighborhood, and who are capable of thinking about the world beyond simple binaries (policing has problems, therefore all policing is bad!).
SPD blows, but community policing or whatever sure ain’t working either.
It doesn’t exist because Solan won’t allow it. Just today he is asking mayor to rollback accountability measures.
Community policing is subject to all the ailments that bog down our justice system. You can put a person in a police officers uniform
Or give them a badge or title, but if they don’t have compass needed to keep them on track then you just have a lost person dulling out justice and safety.
You are describing the current SPD, it would seem.
Voting for Bruce and Joy was my way of asking for my cops, glad they are listening. Maybe, just maybe, you are in the minority on this one!
Young people don’t vote on off years and that’s how you people sadly get your way
Yeah, because young people are totally the experts on public safety needs, as opposed to those of us who own property and businesses in the neighborhood and have been the ones dealing firsthand with the increased criminal activity due to a well known lack of adequate law enforcement. I’m not a wimp about crime and have lived in this neighborhood for 25 years, but this year I’ve had so many outright terrifying encounters with people with obvious mental health and/or drug issues that I now have anxiety whenever I have to go anywhere alone and literally take medication to deal with it.
Must be pretty galling that full grown adults generally get elected and total directive and then bungle it according to everyone clamoring for full grown adults to run things then, if you’ve only gotten the chance to vote once by 21.
Well, I guess young people need to start voting more regularly. Really tough, I know, but actually not tough at all.
So what you’re saying is that everyone between a certain age gets a manual on what years they should be voting and which ones they shouldn’t? And then once they are beyond a certain age they can vote whenever they want?
Your theory sounds completely made up to account for the fact that the years and years of progressive do nothingness, virtue signaling, and sloganeering on the city council failed. Even Sawant saw the writing on the wall and bowed out instead of being handed defeat by a majority of district 3 saying to her, “enough is enough.”
Well i guess if voting on “off years” is too difficult for young people to figure out that’s their problem and quite a pathetic excuse…
You’re wrong.
Me, I asked for more police. Yes here, please.
Please get more police presence on the streets. I’m explicitly asking for it.
Not me. Check out how crappy SPD is lately: https://x.com/ashleynerbovig/status/1798066770592559559?s=46
Pretty sure we know how it goes without police on Cap Hill
The Park department ignores the maintenance of the grass ,beds, concrete and gravel walkways . The water features are cesspools.
There are PLENTY of park employees and new trucks, just zero supervision.
Parks department is a joke. Almost as poorly run as SPD. They can’t even keep the trash cans clean on any sort of busy weekend. They are more concerned with appearances of political signalling than running clean, safe, well maintained and ready for recreation parks.
I agree that Cal Anderson park maintenance could definitely improve. It is such a well-used and loved park. Let’s invest in upkeep and have beautiful plants and a working water feature. Easy enough to do, in my opinion, and would make the neighborhood happy. :)
Nothing will change. Seattle cannot make even in the slightest change to anything because what if one person doesn’t like it?
LOL. Very true
She’s a breath of fresh air from Sawant. There’s no easy solutions here but at least she is acknowledging the problem.
Police cause the problems
They didn’t steal my bike from outside qfc – some guy with giant bolt clippers did. I think we’d all welcom more police and maybe some cameras
Ignorant and just straight up gaslighting folks into thinking the SPD’s issues (and lord knows they have many) affect my QOL on the Hill more than aggro, off their rocker folks strung out on meth and fent.
I haven’t had the cops steal my bike (happened twice, both times literally saw it happened and ran out with my bat to prevent it), or call me a “f@g” for not giving them money or having the audacity to ignore them as I start another hard work day.
Haven’t had cops break my truck’s back window. Shit I could keep going!
The police don’t solve or prevent crime. And even if you had cameras recording then all the police would do would (if you’re lucky) is show up and do paper work to file a police report. Which is is only important for reporting the statistics of crime. The crime will still happen. Police just sit around and play candy crush while collecting over time. Police are not a solution.
And what has YOUR role been in taking away the SPD’s ability to respond in any meaningful way? Why would a police officer risk their career to intervene in a situation where a violent meth-head is causing chaos when they’re surrounded by a hundred folks screaming ACAB? You’re the problem.
I’m not denying the SPD has issues that need to be addressed. But continue with the ACAB bullsh*t and the cops who AREN’T bad reach a point where they just don’t give a sh*t. Congrats. You got what you wanted. No policing. Now sow what you reaped.
Not true. They aren’t geniuses, but they did eventually nab the guy with multiple arrests who was terrorizing my block last summer and we haven’t seen him since.
Getting more accurate statistics does seem like a useful & actionable goal at least, though. Not a big SPD fan myself, but the current status quo isn’t promising. Actual numbers would give us a better idea of what is actually happening & where it’s happening the most. A step in the direction of a step in a direction, etc
If I decided to start a movement called “ACAG” (All Cops are Good), then you would rightfully call me out for stereotyping and “painting with a broad brush.” It’s exactly the same with “ACAB.”
Not all of us, no.
Police are causing meth- and opiate- addicted people to piss and defecate in the street, throw garbage at passing vehicles, harass and intimidate visitors, destroy public and property, etc.? Come on. I’m just about as progressive as they come but this “ACAB” crap is… well, crap. This is what happens when you reject policing. Things devolve into chaos. And then you point fingers at others. Give me a break.
Actually, there’s a pretty good argument that tossing hundreds of millions at a unit that basically harasses its own officers out of the unit, misses a couple hundred folks in bad shape that could have had a positive intervention at some point.
My little doodles of ACAB on derelict buildings didn’t animate themselves to leave dogshit at the foot of an officers locker, as an example of why hiring and retention is impacted.
The cops haven’t once broken into my car, my house, threatened me on the street, done drugs on my lawn or camped out in my alley. Yeah I’ve had my share of negative encounters with them and I’ve had great encounters with them, it depends on what I was up to and yes a few cause some problems but it was that way in 2 other countries I’ve lived in and 3 other states. What’s the alternative? Every person for themselves or some far worse alternative filling the void?
Incredibly naive
You’re ridiculous. Literally every comment you make is laughable. No, the drug addicts create the problems. Yes, more police are needed. Something something odd years make voting hard. It’s all patently ridiculous.
The bootlicking to SPD makes me miss Sawant actually
Why? She did nothing for Cap Hill. She shat on property owners, even though she owns her house in the CD. She ignored constituents pleas for help as D3 and the city dealt with increasing property crime and harassment by homeless drug addicts. She only pandered to the Black community whenever it was months leading into an election cycle. She basically stood silent as D3’s Black businesses were either shot up or had their owners killed. The only time she begged for help from SPD was when people left dog droppings in her yard after she tried to defund the SPD. She’s a hypocrite trying to boost her image to the national Socialist party. D3’s better without her.
Yes she made herself famous for the $15/hr minimum wage but she was never all that. Sawant failed to admit that most of her overly progressive policies were wrong for Seattle as they were falling apart in front of her eyes.
“reduced unwanted activity by 30%” is maybe the vaguest, least verifiable statistic I’ve ever heard
She is just communicating what SPD reports to her.
I don’t understand the default cynicism. Here we have an elected official acknowledging a problem we all agree is a problem, meeting with the community, and reinforcing her commitment to addressing it. This is what we want.
I think the SPD has given us plenty of reasons to view their org & the statistics they’re spouting with a healthy dost of cynicism, actually.
Thank you CM Hollingsworth for your attention on this issue. It’s so disheartening to walk around the neighborhood and see dozens of drug addicts and dealers taking over the sidewalks, leaving litter, and intimidating passersby.
I’m confused by this, in what sense is it difficult ?
Meanwhile, Capitol Hill business owner Geneva Sullivan of Espresso Vivace said employee reluctance to interact with Seattle Police officers makes handling day to day issues even harder.
Because the largely gen z workforce their are bleeding heart youngsters that think ACAB is edgy have a hard time dealing with any authority, and certainly not a big bad police officer!
I mean come on, I’m no fan of the SPD, the times I’ve interacted with them I got the overarching impression they were lazy, ignorant and mostly useless, but “difficulty”?
What “difficulty” is involved in submitting a crime report or calling them when shit is going off?
It’s just non sense from people that aren’t old enough to realize how the world works.
Or Solan is the edgy one thinking he can skirt accountability measures and get pay bumps when they have literal workers sleeping on the job and killing people driving high speeds while laughing about it. Just Maaaaaaaybe the cops are actually as BAD as we say. The whole tree is rotten etc etc
You speak the truth! The owners of Vivace (Geneva and her husband) are the bosses of their employees, and the latter should respect their authority as far as taking action on security issues when that is necessary. Otherwise, they should be fired.
It sounds like some staff members have a mental health issue or have been brain-washed into an irrational fear of police and everyone else has to appease them by virtue signaling. What a frustrating situation for reasonable people that work at or frequent the space and the business owner that is damned if she does/damned if she doesn’t try to address the security situation.
mental health issue? irrational fear? were you here when they gassed the neighborhood? are you aware the east precinct has been purposefully neglecting calls to this neighborhood as punishment for local resentment of their tactics? who WANTS to deal with cops who can’t be bothered to do their job? sucks to have someone drugged out and going wild, but we’ve all learned the lesson that the cops don’t care and the systems we have in place don’t stop, prevent, or ameliorate that behavior. so to me it sounds pretty rational.
They gawked from their balcony and probably did a fist pump when the gas hit.
lmao, you are such a very online poster.
I want to the hill yesterday, and it was a gloomy sight. Like back in the early 2000’s when cal Anderson was just a reservoir gloomy. And Broadway just looks so messy. Like it was cute when Seattle was niche but Seattle is too big for that small business local feel. Small business need a Better facade on Broadway. Don’t go kicking people out. Just clean that mess up.
To be fair, Monday was a notably gloomy day EVERYWHERE, there was an atmospheric river, lol
It sounds a bit like y’all live inside of an amusement park and are complaining to the manager… Don’t get me wrong, I have tons of complaints, but there is some level of involvement in being a community member and stewarding spaces that you live in and love.
Right on the money. Its hella like that engagement!
Exactly. And the main thing we need to do right now, as a community, is to empower some people to enforce the law and remove violent people and criminals. We could call them… “police”? Or maybe “vigilantes”? Your call. I’d prefer police, myself. Vigilantes end up causing more problems than they solve, at least in my opinion.
lmao, how do you propose someone like me who does a weekly distro and checkin with folks on the street gets in community with you? I’m more apt to put on my Level III around you the way your imagination barely works.
No clue what you mean, but for this:
> who does a weekly distro and checkin with folks on the street
I’ll see your weekly and raise you another two per week.
Getting our act together is for everyone’s benefit, especially the harmless.
You’re talking about these incompetent schmucks? https://publicola.com/2024/04/13/seattle-police-knew-officer-who-struck-and-killed-pedestrian-had-checkered-history-but-hired-him-anyway/
Maybe they could introduce a covered bench and table area because the park aint ailing for utilization on any day even remotely nice – cause I go up there to hang when it is.
Yeah they mean “activation by different people.” The park is crowded every time it’s nice out with a healthy mix of yuppies, queers, low income people and yeah, some street people. What I hear in this article is they want only the yuppies who need organized activities and visible cops in the park to feel “safe.”
I won’t hold my breath waiting for any improvements. The transients and addicts are one thing, but our neighbors who conflate graffiti with activism, or those who live to tag every surface in sight, prove over and over again that we don’t deserve nice things.
The article states ““Bad things don’t happen in the light,” Hollingsworth said Thursday.” However, the lights in the park have not been on at night since before mid-June. The area north of the play field is blanketed in darkness as soon as the sun sets. Does anyone know why they’ve stopped turning the park lights on at night?