East Harlem junkie haven thriving under cops' noses

The free-for-all junkie haven in East Harlem was still operating in full force Sunday — with some NYPD cops simply looking the other way while zoned-out addicts tried to rob and harass locals in broad daylight.

Saber Saifullah, who owns Pizza 2 Go on East 125th Street, told The Post the day after its expose on the open-air outrage that he had to personally shoo away an addict who tried to rob a 15-year-old girl outside the eatery Sunday — about 10 yards from a cop on patrol.

“The cop is standing there, drug dealer is standing there,” Saifullah said.

 “I’m here 20 years managing this, never like this,” he said of the out-of-control scene. “[The junkies] see the good people come here to buy, and they snatch the food, they snatch the money.”

Another addict was seen pulling down his pants Sunday and shooting up right next to three NYPD squad cars, with no one intervening.

Saifullah said the addicts are “not like humans” when they’re drugged up.

The Post blew the whistle on the troubling Manhattan block Saturday, revealing open-air shooting galleries with dozens of zombie-like junkies wandering the Park Avenue stretch begging for money or just stealing it.

Critics blame the junkie takeover on liberal crime laws, including Gov. Kathy Hochul’s move that decriminalized the use and possession of hypodermic needles. A directive, citing the new law, has ordered cops not to arrest addicts shooting up in public. 

An East Harlem neighborhood has become a safe haven for junkies.

J.C.Rice

Brazen drug use has become rampant in the East Harlem neighborhood.

J.C.Rice

“I called 911 every day,” said local street vendor Ali You. “It’s for the same reason, the drug overdoses. All the time they are robbing people here, then they buy the drugs, then they are falling on the street and overdosing right there.

“Monday through Friday this is like a drug market here, right here on the street,” You said. “People cannot even walk down the street because they keep saying, ‘Excuse me, excuse me,’ and while they are begging, another is robbing them.

Junkies have taken over a neighborhood in East Harlem.

J.C.Rice

“The police are here every day,” You said. “The undercover police … they are here often. They arrest a lot.

“But they’re too much,” he said of the addicts. “They are always fighting, and there’s always more coming.”

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