A cleanup operation is underway on East 14th Street. Finally, after a recent death by stabbing

Days after a person believed to be suffering from serious mental health issues killed a man and injured another man and a woman in a frenzied stabbing attack, the city is finally taking action.

The block between First Avenue and Avenue A has long been the subject of complaints from residents.

At his weekly press briefing on June 23, Mayor Eric Adams said, “I know 14th Street very well. I've been there personally many times, and everybody who lives in that neighborhood, the city councilors there [Keith Powers and Carlina Rivera] They contacted me. I contacted a team there.

“If anyone knows this area, they know how bad it’s been for years,” Adams said. “I don’t think a mayor has ever walked this block like I have, and how we’ve cleaned up the encampments and the illegal sales. We’ve done operations in this area multiple times to clean it up.”

Police arrested Alehandro Piedra, 30, of Brooklyn and charged him with first-degree murder for killing Clemson Coxfield and two counts of attempted murder for stabbing a 51-year-old woman in the leg and stabbed a 32-year-old man in the back. Coxfield was pronounced dead after being rushed to Bellevue Hospital. The other two victims were also taken to Bellevue and were treated for their injuries.

Adams said of the suspect in custody: “This individual, based on preliminary reports, suffers from serious mental health issues.”

Deputy Mayor Fabien Levy added that the 9th Pct, which patrols the south side of 14th Street where the incident took place, has increased its foot patrols in the area.

“I would also add that in this specific police station, although serious crimes have decreased by 30%, this is obviously not enough because we still have situations like the ones we saw this weekend, which is why the NYPD will be setting up a foot patrol there that will be specifically focused on quality of life issues and will have a visual presence in the neighborhood.

The same block was also the scene of a previous stabbing incident in January, when a church custodian, John Mach, at Immaculate Conception, was stabbed in the neck by a homeless man he tried to stop from urinating between two parked cars while Mass was in progress.

Mach managed to drag himself to the emergency room of the soon-to-close Beth Israel Hospital with a bloodstained towel wrapped around his neck. The wound required 18 stitches to close.

Police arrested Robert Ortiz at a homeless shelter a few days later.

In another earlier incident, one of the street vendors collapsed from a drug overdose on the street, but was revived by another unlicensed vendor who administered NARCAN before help arrived. . The incident occurred just days after police attempted to clear the street of illegal vendors, but they returned to set up a neglected bazaar selling canned goods, electronics, clothing and household items from blankets installed in the street.

Immaculate Conception School closed a year ago due to declining enrollment, but church leaders said the presence of the street bazaar and homeless people hurt the school’s chances of recovering from the enrollment declines that occurred during the pandemic. The school had been in the neighborhood for more than 100 years.

City council member Carlina Rivera said after the latest stabbing incident: “We are also upset that this area remains chaotic and neglected since the pandemic. »

A few days after the knife attack, the block was swept clean of debris. The bloodstains left by the stab wounds had been washed away. The door was closed to an unlicensed weed shop called StuyHigh, which was just a short walk from the stabbings, and a cafe, Gemina, had once again set up outdoor tables. Down the block, shoppers frequented a bustling Trader Joe's and Domino's Pizza outlet.

But the question many residents are asking is: How long will the clean-up last this time?

City Councilor Carlina Rivera