Glens Falls residents and businesses press council for coordinated action on homelessness and downtown safety

A group of residents, service providers and downtown business owners told the Glens Falls Common Council on Sept. 23 that homelessness, addiction and disorder in City Park and nearby streets are worsening and harming the city’s businesses and tourism economy.

Speakers called for a coordinated approach that combines outreach and treatment with measures to move people from high-traffic downtown locations. Rosemary Royce, a board member of the Saratoga North Country Continuum of Care, said local nonprofit agencies counted 545 people experiencing homelessness across four counties in this year's point-in-time count and urged more outreach and clinician support for police. “I think having a social worker is is incredible,” Royce said. She said agencies are “always looking for new members of the COC” and offered handouts and information about local resources.

Several downtown business owners described worsening conditions in City Park and along Ridge Street and said they are already seeing impacts on visitors. Tyler Herrick, general manager of the Queensbury Hotel, said guests have reported they do not feel safe walking downtown. “I get to look over City Park every single day and what's happened over the past 2 years, is just very sad,” Herrick said, adding that hotel reviews sometimes warn guests they did not feel safe walking on Ridge Street. Gina Minster of the Lake George Regional Chamber of Commerce said the chamber brings conferences and bus tours to the area but that tour groups and meeting planners have at times been steered to avoid the park view or be brought in through the hotel’s back entrance because of safety concerns.

Business owners and residents urged the council to back both services and enforcement. Christie Alexander, owner of WorkSmart Coworking, asked the city to provide regular updates on the task force’s work so downtown businesses know what progress is being made. “It would be helpful if you could keep us business owners in the downtown region abreast of what's happening and what... progress has been made,” Alexander said.

Several speakers praised existing steps such as ARPA-funded mental-health supports and the police social-worker program while urging expansion. Royce recommended adding clinicians to police outreach teams and increasing engagement with the Continuum of Care. One longtime resident asked the council to treat homelessness as a nonpartisan community problem that requires action from “the mayor to the people.”

Volunteers and community groups also reported local cleanup and safety efforts. Sean Paladino of the Glens Falls Run Club told the council volunteers collected 100 bags of trash along the Feeder Canal Trail and asked for more trash receptacles downtown; he also asked police to monitor a Finch Paper parking lot where he reported frequent beer cans and possible drinking and driving. Later in the meeting Paladino noted the city had expanded crisis-center beds and urged anyone in crisis to seek help after a recent local suicide was raised.

Council members did not take a formal vote during the public comment period. Speakers repeatedly asked for clearer communication from the mayor’s task force and for the council to consider both expanded outreach services and increased enforcement or other measures to clear high-traffic public spaces.

The council’s next steps were not specified during public comment. Several speakers said they would join task-force efforts and volunteer on committees addressing homelessness, parks safety and schools.