In a new interview, Mayor Ed Gainey addresses the city's ongoing drug activity on the streets of downtown.
Homeless encampments are once again popping up across the city.
The tents, many filled with discarded syringes, can be found along the Allegheny River Trail, the Mon River Trail and along Grant Street.
But in an exclusive interview with NewsRadio KDKA's Marty Griffin., Mayor Gainey says he doesn't want to punish those people who are strung out on drugs.
“I don’t to exploit drug addicts, I don’t think it’s right, I don’t I’m sorry,” said Gainey. “My opinion on that is that they need help.”
The Gainey administration says it is working with the county to move the homeless into more permanent housing, but in the meantime, it will not ban the tents, however they will be taken down for criminal activity.
Gainey also talked about Downtown Pittsburgh and said that the way older generations remember the area will never come back.
“Downtown will never be that 75-year-ago Downtown,” said Gainey. “Gimbles is gone, Kauffman’s is gone, it’s a new environment coming out of a pandemic. How they remember Downtown and how it is now is different . . . and it’s not going to go back.”
Gainey says what's important is that violent crime is down, and he wants people to judge him on how things improve, rather than focus on the past.