SEATTLE — The owner of a downtown Seattle eatery said her staff watched crimes being committed right outside their window within hours of opening.
Monday was reopening day for Piroshky, Piroshky on Third Avenue, which had been closed for several months because of the pandemic.
But the owner got so fed up with the conditions her staff faced in the first three hours that she sent out a tweet.
Moreover, she said her complaints have fallen on deaf ears.
She said she feels it may be too dangerous to run the business there. And she insisted her complaints are being ignored, especially by the council member who represents this neighborhood.
This was supposed to be the grand reopening of Piroshky, Piroshky in the heart of downtown Seattle after being closed since March.
But the owner of this Russian sandwich shop said opening again on Third Avenue did give her pause.
“We had little nervous butterflies in our stomach about what is it going to look like,” said Olga Sagan. “What are we going to have to deal with today?”
This is what she said they encountered: A street littered with trash and worse.
“We saw drug deals,” Sagan said. “We saw people exposing themselves. And there was a standoff situation between police and a man holding a knife. Right here.”
And that was in the first three hours.
But the problems extend beyond ThirdAvenue. The owner of Taste of Asia said those who hang out here often rob him.
“They put a of food on the plate,” said Robert Hyun. “They got no money to pay. They just sitting around. Security has to come and chase them away. It’s been pretty (big) headache for us.”
Worse still, they said, their questions about how the city plans to help small businesses here have gone unanswered.
“Councilman Lewis, Andrew Lewis, several times,” said Sagan when asked to whom she had asked her questions. “Several times tried to talk to him. Of course, the mayor. Yeah. Yet to hear from them.”
Lewis said he has been meeting regularly with Third Avenue business owners.
“I’ll just say this message to Olga,” said Lewis, “Happy to meet with her, definitely.”
He said the city is working with a new program, JustCare. The agency recently removed a homeless encampment on Third Avenue and found shelter for more than 30 people.
“You know, I’m very impatient about getting this done,” said Lewis. “But it’s important to note it’s going in the right direction. We’ve proven what these folks with JustCare can do. And they’re getting the resources to scale up so they can expand their impact.”
In fact, he said, the city is allocating millions more to the effort to remove the encampments, not just here in downtown but across the city.
He said the changes won’t happen overnight.
But he insisted change is happening.