A homeless encampment in central Manchester will remain after a judge told the city to put its plans to evict people on hold until he considers a lawsuit, but someone connected to a nearby business hopes the plan will move. The Winona Social Club is located on the corner of Pine and Manchester Streets in the Queen City near the camp. The club’s treasurer, Patrick Garrity, said their business was “ground zero.” “It’s definitely affected business. I’d say our business is down at least 25%,” Garrity said. He said he hopes the city can enforce an eviction order on the homeless camp after a judge told the city to put those plans on hold until he considers a lawsuit filed by the ACLU. “It’s definitely a safety issue. It’s definitely a health issue,” Garrity said. shared a letter the club sent to Manchester Police dated January 11 asking law enforcement officials to enforce the no-entry order. The letter read in part: “The ground here at 168 Manchester Street has been called ground zero as the club has absorbed more business disruption than any other establishment in the area.” “Our customers just don’t feel safe, our employees don’t feel safe, they’re leaving at night after closing time,” Garrity said. The owner of a daycare in the area told News 9 she is now closing her doors, and other business owners nearby said they just don’t know what else to do. Garrity said he’s had bottles thrown at him because of people asking him to leave the property, and a few weeks ago he said he had to clean blood from an alleged fight off his front steps. The city agreed to delay its eviction plan until at least Tuesday night. The judge said he would issue an order early next week.
A homeless encampment in central Manchester will remain after a judge told the city to put its plans to evict people on hold while he considers a lawsuit, but someone connected to a nearby business hopes the plan will be moved.
The Winona Social Club is located on the corner of Pine and Manchester streets in the Queen City near the campground. The club’s treasurer, Patrick Garrity, said their business was “ground zero”.
“It’s definitely affected business. I’d say our business is down at least 25%,” Garrity said.
He said he hopes the city will be able to enforce an eviction order on the homeless camp after a judge told the city to put those plans on hold while he considers a lawsuit filed by the ACLU.
“It’s definitely a safety issue. It’s definitely a health issue,” Garrity said.
Garrity shared a letter the club sent to Manchester police dated Jan. 11 asking law enforcement officials to enforce the no-entry order. The letter read in part: “The land here at 168 Manchester Street has been called ground zero as the club has absorbed more business disruption than any other facility in the area.”
“Our customers just don’t feel safe, our employees don’t feel safe, they leave at night after closing time,” Garrity said.
The owner of a daycare in the area told News 9 she is now closing her doors, and other business owners nearby said they just don’t know what else to do.
Garrity said he was being pelted with bottles as people asked him to leave the property, and a few weeks ago he said he had to clean up blood from an alleged fight outside his front steps.
The city agreed to delay its eviction plan until at least Tuesday night. The judge said he would issue an order early next week.