Downtown crime disturbs Cultural Trust
The CEO of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust is raising concerns about what he calls a “declining level of public safety” in the Downtown Cultural District, citing not only the July 4 double shooting but other issues, including aggressive panhandlers and drug overdoses.
In a letter to Mayor Bill Peduto, Kevin McMahon called the problems “alarming” and said they threatened “to undo the reputation and the achievements created” over the past 35 years during which the Cultural Trust has been the leading player in transforming a once- seedy red- light district spanning Liberty and Penn avenues into the city’s premier cultural destination.
But in a statement, Mr. Peduto sought to assuage the concerns, saying that city homicides have been down every year since 2014 and that the latest statistics for 2019 for Downtown show a 3% drop in violent and property crimes.
While Mr. McMahon said the July 4 shooting, which wounded a 16- year- old boy and an 18- year- old man, left many at the organization
and in the city arts community shaken, he stressed that it was a symptom of a larger problem within the district.
“Please do not mistake this recent incident as just another isolated holiday spike in crime in the city’s Downtown area — it is NOT. I can assure you that the decline in safety in the Cultural District has been consistent coming to a tipping point with this recent double shooting,” he wrote.
“During the past 12 months we have seen the increase of homeless persons, very aggressive panhandlers, disorderly youth, open marijuana usage, lewd acts in the alleyways, and a drastic increase in publicly intoxicated or persons under the influence of controlled substances openly roaming the streets of the Cultural District unchecked by law enforcement.”
Last month, one trust employee was physically assaulted as he was leaving the organization’s Liberty Avenue office at 5 p. m., Mr. McMahon said. Several other staff members “have been harassed by youths as they walked the streets of the district,” he added.
“We have seen an uptick in overdoses in Katz Plaza, and we have experienced more acts of vandalism to trust- owned properties.”
The trust owns Katz Plaza, which was the location of the July 4 shooting. An 18- year- old North Side man was arrested and charged this week in connection with the incident.
In his letter, Mr. McMahon said that over the past year, there have been thousands of 911 calls for service in Downtown to deal with disorderly persons, trespassing, intoxicated persons, fights and drug complaints.
While the problems have increased — along with visitors, residents and investment in the Cultural District — “noticeably absent has been an increase in police presence,” he asserted.
Mr. McMahon said the trust itself over the past year has spent $ 495,000 to hire private security staff as well as counseling personnel to work with the Downtown homeless and another $ 384,842 to provide off- duty uniformed city police officers to work its events.
“Despite this investment, seldom is there ever a visible bicycle city police officer or patrol person walking a beat in the Cultural District on a consistent basis ( especially at peak theater times during evenings and weekends).”
Even more upsetting, he maintained, is that the Downtown police substation, which he said is provided free of charge by the trust, “does not appear to be staffed with a proper contingent of officers specifically dedicated to the safeguarding of the millions of visitors who annually frequent the city’s Cultural Trust.”
In his letter, Mr. McMahon called on the mayor to adequately staff the substation; to increase the number of bicycle officers, beat officers and police supervisors; and to assign narcotics investigators and officers to conduct “park- n- walks” in “more problematic areas” like Katz Plaza, Tito Way and Exchange Place.
Mr. Peduto, in his statement, said the city now employs the largest number of police in 15 years.
“My administration has adopted new commitments to policies of community- oriented policing, working with neighborhood leaders, national initiatives and predictive analytic technology to prevent crimes, and interactive programs to engage atrisk individuals and provide them opportunities,” he said.
“Our new police command staff and increased officer base are working together to create new standards that have proven successful year after year after year after year, and we’ll keep on working to make all of Pittsburgh safe for residents and visitors alike.”
As for the Cultural Trust’s calls for more officers in the Cultural District, mayoral spokesman Tim McNulty said that “each bureau reviews its staffing constantly and in consultation with Downtown partners.”
City Public Safety Director Wendell Hissrich has said authorities have taken an “aggressive step” in an attempt to curtail any trouble in Downtown during special events, and that disturbances had subsided until July 4.
Toward that end, officials enhanced police presence, added the Downtown substation, air access by state police, high vantage points for police officers, and enhanced security cameras throughout the Golden Triangle.
In his letter, Mr. McMahon said the problems have resulted in more and more calls from patrons and subscribers “expressing very legitimate concerns regarding their safety when in town.”
The issues also have prompted potential developers to “more closely evaluate possible investment” and the Cultural Trust to question future plans for artistic programming and to activate storefronts to provide more attractions to visitors.
“We have the highest regard for our police force and our city officials, including the mayor,” Mr. McMahon said in a voicemail. “They’re all very supportive of our activities. We just need more help given the increased number of people both living here and enjoying the activities in the Downtown.”
He declined further comment.
One who agreed with much of what Mr. McMahon described in terms of problems was Julian Vallozzi, owner of Vallozzi’s restaurant near Market Square and the Talia and Earth Inspired Salads restaurants near Mellon Square.
He said he has seen an increase in panhandling and the number of homeless people in Downtown as well as blatant drug use. “Open marijuana use, it blows my mind how many people are walking around openly smoking marijuana,” he said.
Police, he added, seemed to have addressed problems with drug deals in Mellon Square. But there is still a perception, at least for some visitors, that Downtown is unsafe, he said.
“We had customers this weekend who said they spend a lot of time in Philadelphia and Manhattan. They said they never feel unsafe in those cities but they do feel very unsafe in Downtown Pittsburgh. That took me back.”