Gumpendorfer Straße

Residents: “Is this an official drug market?”

A daily sight: drug addicts blocking the way to the subway.

(Bild: zVg)

The situation around the Gumpendorfer Straße U6 station is getting worse. Residents and business owners demand a solution.

For years, appalling conditions have prevailed around the Jedmayer addiction help center directly opposite the Gumpendorfer Straße U6 station and thus in the middle of a heavily populated area in Mariahilf.

The "Krone" reported time and again about desperate residents: because addicts are injecting in the stairwells, because cellars are being illegally occupied and polluted or because drug addicts are loitering in playgrounds where small children are playing.

Drugs are being used in the middle of the street, in the subway station or in stairwells.

(Bild: Andi Schiel)

No improvement in sight
Neither an increased presence by the police or Wiener Linien guards nor a higher number of street workers have been able to solve the problems.

"Is the Gumpendorfer Straße subway station still owned by Wiener Linien or is it now an official drug market?" asked one shopkeeper. And further: "Or is it an official smoking and pissing area? In any case, on rainy days.

Residents feel left in the lurch
There is video surveillance inside, the police station is nearby. But no authority is doing anything. So I think this could be official now," says the resident.

"Our customers are complaining, it's not a good calling card for Vienna," says another business owner. Both want to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals.

The establishment should be closed at this location as soon as possible and relocated to an industrial estate. Enough is enough! What do the citizens think?

Leo Lugner, FPÖ-Bezirksparteiobmann

Bild: FPÖ Wien

Another round table
"The business owners are aggrieved, the citizens are aggrieved, but the most astonishing thing is that nobody cares about the children," said business owners. There are numerous schools and kindergartens nearby. "Do we want to educate our children to take drugs?"

The Chamber of Commerce is also aware of the problem. Next Thursday, the entrepreneurs have been invited to a round table with the SPÖ district council to discuss measures. Will that be enough?

Finally helping the residents too
FPÖ district party chairman Leo Lugner: "The red-pink city government is on the wrong side here. How do citizens come to be harassed there or be confronted with discarded syringes?" He believes the only sustainable solution is to relocate the facility to an industrial estate. This would continue to help the addicts, but would also finally help the local residents.