About 25 people have taken to sleeping in the park overnight, and Roy Fox, caretaker of Rufus King…
By Courtney Dentch
With summer in full swing, more people are taking advantage of Rufus King Park in downtown Jamaica, but some visitors may be overstaying their welcome.
About 25 people have taken to sleeping in the park overnight, and Roy Fox, caretaker of Rufus King Manor at the center of the grounds, is working with the 103rd Precinct and the city’s Parks Department to halt the influx.
The park, located at 153rd Street and Jamaica Avenue, features the 18th-century home of Rufus King, one of New York’s first senators and an outspoken abolitionist.
People who sleep in the park has become an annual problem, Fox said, and this year he is hoping to put an end to the practice before it affects park-goers.
“Every year we have folks that tend to make King Park home,” Fox said. “This year it started a little earlier and we’ve got a few more people.”
To help enforce the park’s 9 p.m. closing time and move out would-be park dwellers, the 103rd Precinct, which covers downtown Jamaica, has sent officers from the Homeless Outreach Unit to the park. The goal is to get these people involved in city services and housed in city shelters, Fox said.
“They try to convince them to go to shelter, but they can’t force them to go,” said a spokesman for the 103rd Precinct.
The patrols started last week and so far the officers have not issued any summonses to the loiterers, but if the problem persists, officers can issue violations for trespassing on park property, the police spokesman said.
But many of the people who are calling the park home are not interested in city services to get them off the street, Fox said.
“There’s not help because they’re not looking for help,” he said. “Many of these people refuse to go into the shelters because the shelters have been worse than staying in the park.”
The city Parks Department has also lent its support. The agency has increased seasonal parks officers and park enforcement officers at Rufus King Park, said Queens Commissioner Richard Murphy. Like the Police Department, the Parks Department is hoping to enroll these people in the city’s homeless services.
“We do consider it a major quality-of-life problem,” Murphy said. “They shouldn’t be there. They should take advantage of what the city has to offer.”
Although no problems have been reported by park-goers, Fox is concerned things could get worse as the weather gets even warmer, he said. In previous years, some people had taken to urinating in public, shouting lewd comments, and exhibiting other disruptive behavior, he said.
“We may be able to resolve the problem before it gets out of control,” Fox said.
And Fox wants to make sure the park and the manor are safe for visitors, he said.
“There’s a renewed confidence in the park – it used to be drug-infested – and we’re trying to see that we stay on track with that,” Fox said. “This is not an easy situation. We don’t want people scared off or insulted. This park is a tremendous historical experience.”
Reach reporter Courtney Dentch by e-mail at TimesLedger@aol.com, or by phone at 229-0300, Ext. 138.
