BALTIMORE, Md. — For those who spend time in this North Baltimore neighborhood, the only sight on Monday more notable than the pair of armed guards standing outside this walk-up seafood restaurant, may have been the empty corner directly across the street. According to Councilwoman Odette Ramos, the corner of Greenmount and Venable Avenues has served as an open-air drug market for more than 10 years.
"The neighbors have worked really hard to get several drug corners out of that area. This one on Greemount and Venable is still there," Councilwoman Ramos told WMAR-2 News in an interview. "I will say that corner has not been violent until recently. So something has changed. There's been sort of a peaceful coexistence until now, and it's just not acceptable what's happening."
On Saturday afternoon, March 29th, two shooters fired into the line of people waiting outside "I Love Seafood." Three men and a woman, ranging in age from 18 to 60 years old, were hurt. Police are still searching for these two men.
Not long after, guards were posted up outside the restaurant. The owner hired private security to patrol the corner.
"Maybe it can stop some of the violence and some of the problems happening with this strip," customer Misha Rogers said on Monday.
She's been wanting to try the popular seafood joint for a while now, but if she hadn't spotted the security guards outside as she drove by on Monday, "I wouldn't have stopped," she said. When asked why, she replied, "It's Greenmount Avenue. Why would I?"
Another customer who didn't want to be on camera said the same, when asked if seeing the guards made him feel safer: "Absolutely. Other than that, I probably wouldn't have even came up here."
On social media, some neighbors criticized the restaurant's move, calling it "unsettling" to see guards openly carrying weapons. And WMAR-2 News got a call to the newsroom from a resident who was concerned when he spotted the guards as he drove by on Monday.
Councilwoman Ramos told WMAR-2 News' Elizabeth Worthington, "Yeah I'm not really excited about the level of guns that are there but I do know that he needed to stabilize his situation very quickly so that his customers felt confident that they could be back," adding that Baltimore Police are working on deploying more officers to the area so the private guards won't be necessary.
She's also focusing on other issues, including providing services to the young people who deal drugs on that corner, and addressing the high number of vacant properties on that block.
"We have a challenge with the one owner who's not bringing businesses in, and I think if we had more businesses and more eyes on the street, that behavior wouldn't be happening," Councilwoman Ramos said. "To me, vacant properties are connected to everything and it really sends a message that we don't care, which is just not the case. So we'll work to knock those out, figure out the best way to hold the owner accountable, but also to put some really great businesses there because we do know that businesses want to come."
She's also calling for the police department's Group Violence Reduction Strategy (GVRS) to be implemented in her district as soon as possible. The GVRS program began in 2022, and has been gradually rolled out to other districts. Councilwoman Ramos' district is set to be next.
Councilwoman Ramos is hosting a community meeting tonight at St. Moses Church at 6:30 p.m. with representatives from the Baltimore Police Department and the Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement to discuss the ongoing issues.
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