One person complained of drug deals at the base of H Street’s signature Friendship Arch in Chinatown. Another asserted commuters at Gallery Place Metro station sometimes have to push past suspected dealers at the top of the escalators.Robberies. Then people police arrest are spotted back on the streets in the area full of bars and businesses “committing these same crimes over and over again,” the chairman of the neighborhood’s advisory commission said.
Gordon did not address those discussions on Thursday, and he stressed that “we love this neighborhood.” But he also described “open-air drug transactions” and said “issues surrounding public safety are concerns of employees and guests.” He asserted an employee was recently assaulted “in broad daylight,” and the person arrested was “released shortly thereafter.”About 100 people packed the meeting at the downtown Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library.
“We need solutions now,” he said. “It has been a slippery slope which issues have not been addressed by our government leaders and has resulted in where we are today.” A spokeswoman for Graves said the area around the Metro station was chosen because of the number of complaints from residents, and that the cases are largely related to drugs and most of the people arrested don’t live in the community. That makes it easier to get orders to keep them away.Graves said that 42 people were arrested in and around that station in June, and prosecutors moved forward in