Putnam Grand

Hiya - We live on Putnam and Irving, we've lived here for five years. There's been a lot of discussion of the "Grand street corridor" on the www.brownstoner.com site if you want to catch up. But to make a long story short - the corner of Grand and Putnam is pretty much a drug location and the local residents are pressuring the police to clean it up. For the past week, Grand between Putnam and Gates has been closed, and there's been a constant police presence there to intimidate the drug dealers. However, and this is a big however, the neighborhood is generally safe if you don't buy or sell drugs on the street. It's actually a hopeful sign that the residents of the neighborhhood are organizing and pushing for more effective police enforcement. We really like the neighborhood, there's a lot of new restaurants opening up (Kush), and the mass transit is very good. You can bus it to BAM and the cultural attractions in that area very easily. It's hard to say if its worth it to you to put up with the bad stuff right now (the Keyspan activity on Fulton has been very, very annoying), but if you spend a little time in the neighborhood and like it, I don't think you'll be disappointed.
Regards -

LeffertsGirl wrote: Wow, I hadn't heard about the drug activity on Putnam and Grand. Anything chnaged in the last six months or is it still pretty prevalent? I've been good about staying alert since I'm new to the area, but I'll probably avoid the corner when I can after dark if it's still drug heavy.

There hasn't been another community meeting since the last one (right before Grand Street was blocked off), but I walk by there every night. It seems a lot quieter. There are still teenagers hanging out etc., but I haven't noticed the more sinister drug dealers lurking. It's really hard to say what's going on without speaking to the precinct commander, I work during the day and at night I'm either in the city or busy somewhere outside of the neighborhood. Hopefully there will be another community meeting to recap what's been going on the past six months or so. But it's always good to stay alert when walking by that corner.