Third St. benches, a spot for homeless, demolished over 'lewd' behavior

A block of concrete benches on Third Street, a popular place for homeless people to sleep and rest, have been demolished. City officials cited "lewd and lascivious behavior" occurring behind them.

The plan: Replace them with transparent benches.

After The Enquirer began investigating the situation Thursday, however, Vice Mayor David Mann and City Manager Harry Black agreed demolition would be suspended until Mann's Neighborhoods Committee can weigh in at an Oct. 2 meeting.

This week, crews began removing the concrete benches near Paul Brown Stadium on orders of the city's Department of Transportation and Engineering.

The benches, shaded by trees, span four blocks. To the north are many of the buildings that define Cincinnati's skyline. To the south sit U.S. Bank Arena, the Freedom Center, the stadiums and bars, restaurants and new developments like the Radius at the Banks apartment building.

"They were becoming an unattractive nuisance (people sleeping behind them out of sight of police)," wrote Michael Moore, director of the department, in a statement. "Stakeholders in the area lodged several complaints. We're looking at replacements, but haven't started to purchase them yet."

In a memo to City Council dated Thursday, Black said the decision came after a meeting with Downtown Cincinnati Inc., the Cincinnati Center City Development Corp., REDI, Strategies to End Homelessness and Cincinnati police.

"It has been determined people are using this space behind the benches to engage in lewd and lascivious activities," Black wrote.

According to police data, there have been 17 crime incidents reported on Third Street this year, on average about two a month.

In 2013, county officials moved to stop homeless people from sleeping around the Hamilton County Courthouse on Main Street and Central Parkway. Officials hired an outreach worker and attempted to get those who were displaced permanent housing.

Since then, one of the major, visible areas where homeless people congregate has been on Third Street.

One full block of benches between Elm and Race streets have already been busted up and removed. The organizations wanting them removed also asked that the trees along Third Street be uprooted. That part of the plan was scrapped, however, Black wrote in his memo.

Under the overall plan, more demolition in the remaining three blocks of Third Street likely won't occur until the spring, according to the transportation department. Officials said transparent benches would be installed in the first block before older benches are removed from the neighboring blocks.

The decision to demolish the benches caught both city officials and homeless advocates off guard. The vice mayor and Homeless Coalition Director Josh Spring both said they were unaware until The Enquirer contacted them.

"I’m surprised something like that would be done without consulting council,” Mann told The Enquirer. "The idea we would destroy valuable public infrastructure seems like a weird solution if there is a problem."

Spring said Third Street is well-lit and well-traveled. He explained that homeless individuals are a vulnerable population, often attacked and victimized. Pushing them out of sight only makes life more dangerous for them, he said.

"All of our shelters are bursting at the seams," Spring said. "For a variety of reasons, being in the same space with a lot of other people doesn't work for everyone."

There had been complaints from business owners in the past few years about the homeless in the area. Spring had met with business and city leaders to suggest installation of portable toilets and a greater focus on affordable housing solutions; nothing came of it.

David Ginsburg, the president and CEO of Downtown Cincinnati Inc., said sanitation is a concern for the businesses along Third Street.

"This creates a problem for employees walking to work," Ginsburg said. Business owners want places that are "clean and sanitary," he said.

"The ultimate answer is to find good places with good amenities for people to be," Ginsburg said.