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| 11/15/2009 | Email this article • Print this article |
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| Jessica Maher/Recorder staff
A fading sign greets motorists as they enter Amsterdam on East Main Street. |
| | Improving safety | East Main Street in Amsterdam is improving, at least when it comes to its crime statistics. According to Amsterdam Police Deputy Victor Hugo, the East End is no more crime-ridden today than other areas of the city. Below are statistics on the crime in that area as compared to Market Street, another major city thoroughfare.
Stats are from Jan. 1 through November
Calls for Service
East Main Street: 228
Market Street: 449
Major Crimes
East Main Street: 1 burglary
Market Street: none
Traffic Citations
East Main Street: 168
Market Street: 321
Arrests
East Main Street: 35
Market Street: 55
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Cast Aside?
Some East End residents feel ignored
Jessica Maher
Reporter
There's little dispute or question that those driving into Amsterdam for the first time from the East End form a completely different image of the city than those coming in from any other artery.
But some people argue that it's not only outsiders who view this section of the city differently, but also Amsterdam's own residents.
"It's an absolute sin that we've given up on a whole part of the city," said Mark Capone, an East End resident who recently made an unsuccessful bid for 5th Ward alderman.
Capone has lived on East Main Street for nearly a decade. In that time, while the city has made various stabs at growth and beautification, he believes the East End has been largely ignored.
"Literally nothing is being done on the East End in the way of progress," said Capone.
While East and West Main Streets together once made a prosperous stretch of the community, both have suffered in recent years. Still, attempts to bring West Main Street back to life - securing funding to encourage business owners to make improvements, beautification efforts such as the Windows on Main initiative - have not yet stretched across to the other side. Even potted flowers and city banners don't reach the East End, and Capone said the neglect also includes that of sidewalks and overgrowth.
"I think we try to make that main artery where we get most traffic, going up Route 30, the centerpiece, but I actually would want to see the Windows on Main all the way to the east entrance of the city," said Mayor Ann Thane.
Only after Alex Torres' "constant complaints" several years ago did East Main Street finally get Christmas decorations, though proper utilities were never put up.
"To appease me they put up sporadic decorations that don't light up ... so now we have unlit lights, but they will not deter our Christmas sprit," laughed Torres.
Torres has been a staple on East Main Street for almost 25 years with his music store, El Palacio Musical. He agreed with Capone about the city's neglect of the area, but unfortunately, he said he's grown accustomed to it.
"It's nothing new," said Torres. "Route 30 is where it's at."
Lark Street resident Jeffrey Chace agreed.
"This part of the city is forgotten about no matter what, when it comes to business development or anything," he said.
With her eye on the 2003 Comprehensive Plan, Thane said the East End's issues are being addressed and should be expanded, including targeted code enforcement, demolition of derelict properties and continued clean-up efforts.
In an initiative with the Neighborhood Watch Program last month, 500 tulip and daffodil bulbs were planted in the center island at the east entrance to the city. The city has also ordered aborvitae to be placed in front of East Main Street's Department of Public Works building, and Thane said she plans to propose the relocation of the DPW to Edson Street.
"That way you could possibly demo a building that many people complain about and the equipment being right there at the entrance of the city," she said. "If we were to demo that building, we could then landscape as well as put the park and ride down there."
Fifth Ward Alderman Richard Leggiero agreed that demolition of dilapidated buildings could be a good start in turning around the East End.
"I think if people started to see the blight disappear they could all probably be part of it in one way or another," he said.
But just as the deterioration of the East End didn't happen overnight, no one pretends it can be fixed as quickly, either.
"I do think that the East End could make a comeback ... I don't know if there is one thing that could really start it all back again," said Leggiero.
Torres agreed that it would have to be a multi-faceted approach, and points to the many "fly-by-night" churches and not-for-profit agencies that exist along East Main Street. In addition to taking prime property and not paying taxes, Torres said that because of a law that prohibits the serving of alcohol within a certain distance from churches, restaurants have a hard time surviving on the street.
"We're so overloaded with storefront churches, you can't have a bistro or arts place next door," he said.
Thane agreed that the amount of churches and not-for-profits is problematic, and is one of the things that should be addressed in the rezoning efforts recently undertaken by Montgomery County.
And of the many problems the East End tends to have, most are quick to point out the residents aren't to blame. Today, Amsterdam Police Deputy Chief Victor Hugo said that major crime in the East Main Street corridor is "not existent for the most part," though there's admittedly still problems.
"I'd say 99 percent of the families living down here are good people, but we've got that 1 percent," said Chace.
Chace is a coordinator for Neighborhood Watch, a newly reinstated program in the city that has garnered wide participation in many parts of the city.
In the East End, Chace is joined by only two other participants.
"A Neighborhood Watch would be great down here but people either don't want anything to do with it or they're afraid of it," said Chace.
While admitting that the East End has more problems than other parts of his ward, Leggiero is cautiously optimistic.
"It's going to be a real challenge to bring downtown back together again," he said. "It's not impossible, but it's all going to take time."
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Contact Jessica Maher at jessica.maher@recordernews.com
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