GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
A homeless man who identified himself as Mu Hammid Gritz-X sat and rested on a park bench as a companion waited yesterday afternoon as they made their way along the Ala Wai promenade. Noise, drug activity and homeless problems have prompted police and residents to push for closure of the area during late-night and early-morning hours.
Curfew sought for part
of Ala Wai walkwayResidents complain that homeless
people sleep there every night
Police and residents are pushing to close part of the Ala Wai promenade during late-night and early-morning hours because of noise, drug activity and homeless problems.
Mike Spenny, the resident manager of the Ala Wai Manor on McCully Street near the canal, said residents began complaining about homeless people sleeping in the area a couple of months ago.
"Every bench would be filled up with people sleeping on it 24 hours a day. ... They would scare people away," Spenny said.
Police stepped up patrols after the complaints.
Now, "things are much better. People are able to walk there, sit down and read a book."
Members of the McCully/ Moiliili Neighborhood Board have requested that the city Parks & Recreation Department close the promenade from McCully Street to Kalakaua Avenue from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. The request is still under review.
Derek Kitajima, 42, who said he has been homeless since January, said he has been cited five times for camping along the promenade."They harass me every time," said Kitajima.
"We have the right to go to sleep right now. ... We get rights, too."
"We don't want to harass these people, but we got to show some kind of presence," said police Officer Zenas Oudayog, who was patrolling the area yesterday with Officer Martin Min.
"We have to be compassionate in our endeavors and still be firm with the law. ... We need to check on them and make sure everything is OK," said Lt. Kathleen Ferreira. "We still need to do what we need to do to help those who cannot help themselves."
Ferreira said the department supports the closure during night and early-morning hours. She noted that the area is secluded and tends to attract the homeless and drug dealers.
"We had numerous complaints that they (residents) can't walk through there," she said.
Police stepped up patrols along the entire Ala Wai Canal after a 26-year-old homeless man shot and killed another man five months ago after an argument over belongings, Ferreira said.