Grim photos show a homeless encampment that has sprung up in a leafy Manhattan park close to an outdoor drug den known as 'crack alley'.
A bookseller in New York City carries a bag of Narcan to revive his heroin-addict friends when they overdose at their tent encampment which has sprung up in a park close to an outdoor drug den known as 'crack alley'.
Jeff Powers, 64, was homeless for 15 years before getting an apartment through government housing in 2019, yet he still hangs out around Tompkins Square Park in Manhattan's East Village neighborhood to spend time with his girlfriend Lisa - who has been homeless for three years - and to sell books.
The Oklahoma native told DailyMail.com that when he's in the park - where makeshift tents line benches and sidewalks - he carries a bag of the opioid-blocker Narcan when his friends overdose on synthetic cannabis, known as K2, and heroin.
He says he's saved 13 people with the anti-opioid treatment in recent months, as NYC endures an ongoing plague of serious crime blamed on homeless defendants, many of them with drug addiction or mental health issues.
Homeless bookseller Jeff Powers (pictured), 64, in New York City carries a bag of Narcan to revive his heroin-addict friends when they overdose at their tent encampment which has sprung up in a park close to an outdoor drug den known as 'crack alley'
Powers sets up shop just a few feet away from 'crack alley' at the 7th street entrance to the park where he has a table full of books and a small stash of food, juice and dog toys. An avid history buff, the 64-year-old told Dailymail.com that he always wanted to work in a bookstore and is hoping to get a retirement job as a librarian by the time he's 65 in June
Powers hangs out in Thompkins Square Park with his girlfriend Lisa (pictured), who has been homeless for three years
Powers gets a surplus of Narcan (pictured) from a local homeless shelter, which hands it out liberally to try and keep people safe. It can be given as a nasal spray or injected via needle. With his stash of Narcan, Powers said that over the summer alone he saved 13 people. Lisa said she has given Narcan to 47
Lisa was pictured sweeping the area around a park bench where she sleeps. Powers said he stays in the park about three nights a week with her despite living in government housing
'K2 is still the main thing on the streets,' he said, adding: 'It's cheap and it's effective and it makes people absolutely crazy. It makes people look like zombies.'
'It's potpourri. You know that stuff that makes your house smell good? But they spray it with fentanyl so they make it addictive and people die.'
Powers gets a surplus of Narcan from a local homeless shelter, which hands it out liberally to try and keep people safe. It can be given as a nasal spray or injected via needle.
With his stash of Narcan, Powers said that over the summer alone he saved 13 people. Lisa said she has given Narcan to 47.
Powers explained how he would spray it into people's noses or jab it into their upper arms.
'You have five minutes,' Powers said of the response time. Any more and a person 'will turn blue' he said, noting: 'That's not good. That's too late.'
'You have to get them up and walking around,' Powers said and recalled a time when he had to administer Narcan - formally known as naloxone - to a friend 'five or six times'.
'He was mad at be because I messed with his high,' he told DailyMail.com.
Powers also said that he was worried about overdose increasing as the city gets colder, which is when homeless people stay in their shelters and it becomes harder for Powers to see when they're overdosing.
He cited that a lot of the drug abuse happens in what he referred to as 'crack alley' - a strip of benches being used as a shelter. Powers said about 10 people live in the alley, which is riddled with needles and covered in food waste.
Powers sets up shop just a few feet away from 'crack alley' at the 7th street entrance to the park where he has a table full of books and a small stash of food, juice and dog toys.
A homeless encampment pictured on the sidewalk along Thompkins Square Park. Its residents have erected shelters complete with space heaters and flowers as décor
Powers said that many of the park's homeless residents are addicted to synthetic cannabis, known as K2, and heroin
An avid history buff, the 64-year-old told Dailymail.com that he always wanted to work in a bookstore and is hoping to get a retirement job as a librarian by the time he's 65 in June.
Powers said that he knew selling things in the park was against the law but noted that he does it anyway because the police know him and 'leave him alone,' noting that the same 17 to 20 people live
