The price of rent in Clinton Hill may be rocketing ever upward, but residents are complaining that several blocks along Grand Avenue remain a hotbed of drug activity.
Police are searching for a gunman who shot up the Clean Society Cleaner yesterday, and while cops told the Brooklyn Paper the incident at the Clifton Place-adjacent business was not drug-related, neighbors in the area say otherwise, claiming to have seen officials carrying cash and drugs from the business following the shooting.
“The corner there is a drug-prone corner,” a spokeswoman from the 88th Precinct told the paper, adding that she's also heard reports that the cleaners is “a shady joint.”
Today, Brownstoner received a tip that officers were injured during an afternoon drug raid at 417 Grand Avenue, though police would not confirm that anything went down. As it happens, the building, a picturesque Colonial Revival, was featured as the blog's Building of the Day earlier this week.
Both Public Advocate Letitia James and DA Kenneth Thompson live in the neighborhood, making the corner's persistent reputation as a den of drugs and violence somewhat confusing. Still, it hasn't stopped alleged illicit activity from regularly occurring in broad daylight.
“The police are aware, the [politicians] who live in the community are aware, and the 88th Precinct is aware. Now Ken Thompson is aware,” a neighbor told the Brooklyn Paper. “I just don’t see anything being done. But, it’s blatantly taking place as we speak.”
Don't get too excited, Spike Lee: You can still get a truffle-topped pizza and chocolate-stuffed calzone right down the street.
