Needles found outside of Bushwick school
Lauren Birkhold, a longtime resident, first spotted the needles on Monday and called the police. She said they told her they would handle the cleanup.
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Used syringes were found just feet from the entrance of Lyndon B. Johnson School in Bushwick, raising concerns among residents about safety and drug use in the area.
Lauren Birkhold, a longtime resident, first spotted the needles on Monday and called the police. She said they told her they would handle the cleanup.
"I don't have children who go to this school, but I think we can all agree having needles around kids is a bad idea," Birkhold said.
She said she frequently walks her dog in the neighborhood and had never noticed open needles before.
"I’ve lived here for years, and it feels like there’s been more lately,” she said. “It’s a bummer seeing this in front of schools."
Teachers at the school said they had not previously seen needles outside the building but did recall an incident when a man was found passed out in front of the school.
"By the time I got here, the fire department came and woke him up," one teacher said. "I didn't see a syringe, but you could tell his arms weren't healthy," said teacher Mildred Montalvo.
When reporters arrived, the needles Lauren had reported were no longer there, but two more syringes were found nearby. A janitor cleaned them up.
The city provides a portal for reporting discarded syringes, allowing residents to upload photos and submit locations to request removal.
Lauren hopes efforts to prevent syringe littering will improve.
"I don't know if it's having more people here at night to make sure it's not happening or if it's having someone coming by in the morning to make sure there's nothing left over," she said. "Ideally, we'd address the mental health and addiction crisis."
City records show no other syringe-related complaints have been filed in front of the school this year.
