Residents Say Brooklyn Bridge Park Foot Traffic Is Causing An Uptick In Crime

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Brooklyn Bridge Park is an urban oasis that keeps getting more popular.

However, some who lived in the neighborhood long before the park arrived aren't welcoming visitors with open arms.

As CBS2's Valerie Castro reported, there was a minor sidewalk traffic jam on Joralemon Street on Tuesday, but residents said on weekends the crowds multiply.

"This is just an example and it's usually worse. There's just so many people going up and down our sidewalks," Jane Parkerton said.

Parkerton has lived there for more than 40 years. She fought back tears as she looked out on her street.

"My neighborhood has really changed and it's just hard to live here now," she said.

Residents said they've seen an increase in noise, foot traffic, and crime which they attribute to the Brooklyn Bridge Park.

"Just random vandalism, more trash, more noise disturbances," one resident said.

The 85-acre park has green space, playgrounds, volleyball and basketball courts, and has become a hot attraction during summer months.

Joralemon Street, a small residential stretch to the east, is the most direct way to walk there.

"We are the closest, best thoroughfare from the subways down," Parkerton said.

One longtime resident said a rock was hurled through her front door in June, shattering century old glass.

Another neighbor had garden tools stolen from an outdoor shed.

According to NYPD crime statistics overall crime in the area is down, but robberies, petty larceny, and misdemeanor assaults are up.

Two weeks ago surveillance cameras caught a man being sucker-punched in the face as he walked down Joralemon Street.

"The momentum of his punch lifted me up in the air and turned me over," Richard Carey said.

Nearby Atlantic Ave is a much larger street and residents said many problems would be solved if the city could funnel people there instead.

"I just think if we could get the street to close off the traffic and pedestrians routed that way, at least some of them," one neighbor said.

The community board said it's looking into asking the Department of Transportation directing people to use Atlantic Avenue to access the park.