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Businesses in the upper districts face the challenge of crime and homelessness

Small business owners across Albuquerque are frustrated after facing crime and homelessness. Adam Krafft, the owner of Uptown Bar and Grill and Aliens Brewpub, said his customers aren't affected, but the consequences are still a burden. “I'm trying to support maybe 80 people here. When we get going, even during football season, that's where the money has to go. Not to constantly fix windows and worry about security,” Krafft said. “It seems like it's $2,500 either way, and that's money I'd be better off spending supporting my employees.” Roslyn Hernandez, owner of Rise Nutrition, said she's had similar problems, including a failed break-in attempt a few days ago. “$300 later, we had it taken care of, and then last night they successfully broke through the same lock, they took money, they completely trashed our establishment, took speakers,” Hernandez said. “It's just really hard running a small business.” Krafft said this is the fourth time something has happened to his business in the past week. “We had a break-in where they came behind the bar and stole about 15 bottles and smashed the windows. The next night we had another incident where we had to kick out a gentleman who was unstable. He was throwing rocks through several of our windows,” Krafft said. Hernandez said some of the homeless are now becoming more violent. “My niece left, and there were about 10 homeless people standing outside with crowbars like they knew what they were going to do. It's just not hidden, it's out in the open,” Hernandez said. Both businesses are hoping for help. “I wish we had better solutions to the problems because they're not going away, and we have more and more people using these high-potency drugs and more and more people with health and mental health issues that need treatment,” Krafft said. “Because right now, they're obviously making a negative contribution to society. I'd like to spend some money on them and make a positive contribution to society.” “I'm going to invest in a system and pray it makes a difference,” Hernandez said. We've reached out to the Albuquerque Police Department and are waiting for a response. About a week ago, Mayor Tim Keller announced a new initiative to combat homelessness. The program will work with landlords to increase the number of rentals that accept vouchers.

ALBUQUERQUE, NM —

Small business owners across Albuquerque are frustrated by the challenges of crime and homelessness.

Adam Krafft, owner of Uptown Bar and Grill and Aliens Brewpub, said his customers are not affected, but the consequences are still a burden.

“I'm trying to support maybe 80 people here. When we get going, even during football season, that's where the money needs to go. Not to constantly fix windows and worry about safety,” Krafft said. “It seems like it's $2,500 either way, and that's money I'd be better off spending on supporting my staff.”

Roslyn Hernandez, owner of Rise Nutrition, said she's had similar problems, including a failed break-in attempt a few days ago.

“$300 later, the problem was solved, and then last night they successfully broke the same lock, took money, completely trashed our house and took speakers,” Hernandez said. “It's just really hard running a small business.”

Krafft said this was the fourth time in the past week that something had happened to his business.

“We had one break-in where they got behind the bar, stole about 15 bottles and smashed the windows. The next night we had another incident where we had to evict a gentleman who was unstable. He was throwing rocks through several of our windows,” Krafft said.

Hernandez said some of those at risk of homelessness are becoming increasingly violent.

“My niece was just walking home and there were about 10 homeless people standing outside with crowbars like they knew what they were going to do. It's just not hidden, it's out in the open,” Hernandez said.

Both companies are hoping for help.

“I wish we had better solutions to these problems because they are not going away. More and more people are taking these powerful drugs and more and more people have health and mental health problems that need to be treated,” said Krafft. “Because right now they are obviously a negative contribution to society. I would like to spend some money on this and make a positive contribution to society.”

“I will invest in a system and pray that it makes a difference,” Hernandez said.

We have reached out to the Albuquerque Police Department and are awaiting a response. About a week ago, Mayor Tim Keller announced a new initiative to combat homelessness. The program will work with landlords to help increase the number of rentals that accept vouchers.

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