When Bernice Zap and her husband found a red light fixed to a tree on Davison Avenue, the elderly couple wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry. There was something funny about the light, something ludicrous. But the prostitution problem on Davidson Avenue between Kingsbridge Road and E. 192nd Street is no joke.
Zap has called the block home for more than 50 years. Its stately wood frame houses stand in contrast to the hustle of Kingsbridge Road and Jerome Avenue. Former Borough President Fernando Ferrer owned a house on the block when he was in office. Albanian American leader Esad Rizai has been on the block for more than 30 years.
“It was completely different when [Ferrer] was here,” Rizai said.
Prostitution has long plagued the Kingsbridge Heights – University Heights neighborhood. St. James Park on Jerome Avenue was a hotspot, Ferrer remembered. Davison was quiet.
“The [prostitution] on Jerome was contained,” Ferrer said. “Sometimes it would spill onto Davidson but that was rare.”
Lights installed by Monroe College helped clean up Jerome Avenue and pushed prostitutes onto Davidson Avenue, where trees darken parked cars and hide midnight trysts, Rizai said. Davidson Avenue residents met with Community Board 7 and the 52nd Precinct in early September to address the problem, homeowner Daniel Arana said.
Male and female prostitutes and johns prowl the block from 11 p.m. until the morning.When residents attempt to shoo them away, the prostitutes and pimps curse and threaten, Arana said. Arana often peels used condoms off the sidewalk. The Davidson Avenue homeowner has found human excrement by his garage.
“Sometimes the cops confront the prostitutes,” Arana said. “Sometimes the cops don’t bother to stop.”
The 52nd Precinct is aware of the problem, Captain Philip Rivera said. The precinct had “impact” officers on prostitution duty in Kingsbridge Heights – University Heights until recently, when the additional officers were reassigned to the south Bronx. The precinct plans to hit the block soon. The use of officers disguised as johns is a possibility.
Elected officials have promised to address the problem before, homeowners Ramnath Achiva and Ramdat Kharran said. Fernando Cabrera, who unseated Councilwoman Maria Baez in the Democratic primary in September, toured the block recently. Achiva has no reason to think Cabrera will solve the problem, he said.
Rizai plans to ask Mayor Michael Bloomberg about the prostitution at an Albanians for Bloomberg event. Homeowner Cong Luu has two children.
“[The prostitution] is bad for the kids,” Luu said.
Ferrer thinks that Davidson Avenue needs to be addressed, no matter what the crime statistics suggest.
“It has to be treated like any other block,” he said.
CB7 will hold a 6:30 p.m. public meeting to discuss public safety issues at Our Lady of Refuge Church on Tuesday, October 13.