CityNews is running a public safety scare on Garema Place with an unusual culprit:
- Jude Cohen, owner of Bardelli’s Café, is right in the middle of the trouble.
“There was someone stabbed in the face just the other week,” he says. “There is a core group of about 20 people who cause all the trouble, I think. I have spoken with the police about the possibility of the businesses here hiring a security guard.”
Mr Cohen believes that the fact that charity organisations set up a few times a week, most notably on Friday evenings, in Garema Place, just metres away from his cafe is also a problem.
“Don’t get me wrong, I respect the fact that these organisations are caring for the needy, but the giving away of free food in Garema Place simply attracts problems.
What’s the cycle on these end-of-civilisation-in-Garema-Place stories? Every five years?
Personally I’ve seen the place looking better over the years, but I’ve seen it worse, and emptier too. At the end of the day Civic’s focus has been shifted over to Bunda Street and that’s going to create an uncomfortable period of adjustment.