A neglected Bronx subway underpass has turned into a hellish open-air drug market that’s making locals afraid to even walk down the street — and has at least one local pol seeing red.
The Kingsbridge D-train underpass has been plagued by rampant drug use since the end of the pandemic, with zombie-like addicts shooting up in public — and no one is doing anything about it, according to residents and City Councilman Oswald Feliz (D-Bronx).
“The illicit drug selling and use, as well as other quality of life issues, has made the underpass unwelcoming and in some days unwalkable,” Feliz wrote in a scathing letter to the city Department of Transportation last month.
The Post found several spent needles in the area during a recent visit, with vagrants slipping under the overpass to buy or use drugs amid the trash-strewn walkway.
“It’s not safe,” mom Draya Michelle said as she took her 2-year-old daughter home nearby on Friday.
“I take the Metro North just to avoid coming up this way, and I wouldn’t recommend anyone going down into that underpass because you don’t know what’s going to happen to you,” she said.
“And no one’s coming to save you, that’s for sure,” Michelle added, saying cops “just stand there and watch.”
She wasn’t the only frustrated local parent.
Another mom, who would only give her name as T. Charles, said she no longer feels safe in her own neighborhood.
“I only use that [underpass] if the elevator is not working, and I have my daughter in a stroller,” she said.
“You see people shooting up and sometimes you just see a whole bunch of needles afterward, and sometimes you see these same people on the stairs of the other entrance in the back.
“That’s where they sleep,” she added. “That’s where they eat.”
Locals said the addicts roam around the area during the day panhandling for drug money, with the illicit activity kicking into gear later in the day as residents start ducking into their homes.
“It’s crazy,” said neighborhood resident Brian Calle.
“I have kids. We can’t really walk through there because a lot of people are sleeping there and doing drugs,” he said. “It’s scary to walk around there.
“Nobody does anything,” the exasperated dad added. “I don’t want my kids to grow up in a neighborhood like this.”
Feliz, in his searing Nov. 25 letter obtained by The Post, faulted the DOT for failing to act.
“Your agency has received many ideas of simple steps that can be taken within your power, but your agency refused to do anything,” the lawmaker snapped.
He said it’s not the only trouble spot in the borough, noting that Fordham Plaza has been so badly neglected that the Bronx Night Market, a popular local tradition, has been forced to shut down.
This despite a $34 million renovation of the plaza just seven years ago, the pol said.
“Had you taken basic steps to activate the plaza, we would have achieved the vibrant gathering space promised to residents,” Feliz wrote.
A spokesman for the DOT said in a statement that the department is aware and working on it.
“The complex challenges require a multi-agency approach and the Adams administration is marshaling its resources to deliver safe streets and welcoming public spaces in the Bronx,” the statement said.
“We are working with stakeholders at both locations and have been in extensive discussions with the Bronx Night Market about a long-term commitment.”
Additional reporting by Nolan Hicks
