Cinder block damage next to the Metro Transit Eastbound 3A Bus Stop. May 2019
It’s been more than 4 years since the trouble at Maryland Supermarket at Arundel & Maryland Avenue started in May 2019 and none of the attempts by the current St Paul City Council President Amy Brendmoen of Ward 5, nor her then Legislative Aide Hwa Seong Kim have made an impact on changing the attitude and civic duty of the Store owner. Numerous attempts have been documented. The St Paul Police Department have logged thousands of calls relating to the people who hang around outside the convenience store and attached diner.
I, Publius Jr, had sent a note to the City Council Woman Amy Brendmoen about the broken base of the Store Sign, as you can see in the above photo. I had reported it on April 18, 2019. I was worried some kid might use the broken cinder blocks for vandalism or possibly hit someone with it. The wheels of government turn pretty slow when it isn’t in the neighborhood of the elected leader. Nearly a month went by and there was a murder committed in the parking lot of the store. You can see the Balloons near the corner of the lot where it took place.
In June 2019 I got an email from Councilwoman Brendmoen’s legislative Aide Hwa Seong Kim.
the email of Ms Kim is blocked out as well as Publius Jr’s first name.
I was floored that Hwa Seong Kim wanted me to meet the owner of the shop. I felt as if she wanted me to be identified by the shop owner, and possibly targeted by him. I’m not fond of the criminal element that he brought in when he bought the store. Prior to his purchase of the store, the criminal element that surrounds the store was not present. Though the previous store owner often would sell outdated milk and other stale food items.
Habitat for Humanity spent $11 million on developing a Wetland property known as Willow Reserve where the water table is so high none of the 11 houses built by Habitat for Humanity have basements in them. The owners of those houses are so invested in stopping the crime there they have erected ugly wooden fences around their houses. None of those houses are worth $1 million, but they sell for $200,000 roughly.
How out of touch is Hwa Seong Kim?
If you notice the LWV Forum never let her answer any questions about the DFL’s weakest topic which they claim isn’t happening around election time and that’s crime. So keep this letter in mind when you read the rest of the article.
What is common around what I deem the “Drug Front,” and by the way it’s not the only one that one could identify in the North End Neighborhood, are open air drug sales. A lot of “handshake sales” are made. Despite a number Surveillance Cameras watching the store, the suspicious activity still seems to go unimpeded. Prior to a recent shooting there in late September there used to be open air drug sales in front of a house that was “For Sale by Owner,” 3 houses south of Maryland Ave and on the East Side of the Street of Arundel.
Why there? Because the camera on the telephone/power pole near the Westbound 3A Bus Stop could only capture up to the 2nd house south of the intersection. High end cars would park there or further south of the sale house and do transactions.
Sometimes drivers would park their car walk into the Tobacco store and be out of it inside of a minute. Unless the store owner had a pick up option online these sales seem odd. Haven’t found the evidence of a website for the store unless it is named something other than the actual store name.
On August 1st 2023 it seemed like a Block Party next to the store. You might have thought it was a National Night Out Celebration, but it wasn’t. National Night Out was created to thwart illegal drug sales and gang activity in relationship to drugs. Yet the legalization of “Recreational” Marijuana that took effect on August 1st created a party of stoned and gleeful gangsters. They must have had a record sales day. The dealers would walk up to cars and carry out their transactions just out of the frame of the Pole Camera. Then there was a shooting on August 4, 2023 . Turns out it was a mishandling and a lot of violations of gun safety that ended the life of a young man right across the street from the open air drug sales.
Then there was another shooting in late September 2023 involving a member of Como Park Senior High School.
A week later a St Paul Police Department Mobile Camera Pole was set up and the open air drug sales disappeared for a day or two but they still occur literally under the camera pole. At the angle of the camera, none of the drug dealers’ faces are able to be seen. They also operate at night as well in that area. They use couriers who ride in on their bikes, meet someone outside in the parking lot, shake hands, then ride their bike to another location.
Another Weak Non Serious Attempt to Stop the Violence
The following letter was forwarded concerning 444 Maryland Avenue W. I had posted in May 2022 about this in the article, “Why are Problem Properties in St Paul & Minneapolis Allowed to Exist,” about 2 properties one the Maryland Supermarket at the intersection of Arundel St & Maryland Ave W in St Paul, and the area of the Liquor Store and gas station at Lyndale and Broadway in Minneapolis.
Concerned Letter to Maryland Supermarket Owner
This letter is from St Paul City Council President Amy Brendmoen from Ward 5.
October 3, 2023
444 Maryland Ave W.
Saint Paul, MN 55103
Mr. Alfureedy,
On September 26, 2023, the Pioneer Press reported the arrest of a suspect involved in an April 2023 shooting outside of 444 Maryland W. in Saint Paul. This Pioneer Press article came only a week after it reported on a September 21, 2023, shooting at 444 Maryland Ave W. involving high school students. Both articles also mentioned two previous homicides at 444 Maryland Ave W., one in 2019 and one in 2022. The recent news articles and the ongoing daily pattern of unsafe and often violent behavior at 444 Maryland W. contradict your quote that the city council is “scapegoating the property for crime in the neighborhood.” In fact, 444 Maryland W. has been and continues to be a magnet for some of the most violent and unacceptable behavior in Saint Paul. The excessive consumption of our police service on this address is unfair to the rest of the city.
In the same September 26 article, your lawyer says that you are, “invested in reducing crime and having a safe space for the business’s customers and would look forward to working with whoever had any ideas to help reduce the greater violence problem on the North End.” Thank you for acknowledging that your business and the immediate area it affects is unsafe and crime-infested. Thank you for offering to participate in improving the safety of your customers and the community.
Action, of course, speaks louder than words. So, I offer the following list of basic but important action steps. These ideas, offered by city staff and the community, are all within your control. To be clear, this list is in response to your lawyer’s request in the newspaper for ideas on how you, Ali Alfureedy, could participate in reducing crime and illegal activity on your own property:
- Hire licensed law enforcement or private security to monitor your building and adjacent areas.
- Report all persistent loitering, suspected drug dealing, trespassing, gun activity, fighting, violence, and disorderly conduct.
- Voluntarily close the Arundel St. entrance to your property to limit traffic flow in/out of the business parking lot and to limit business traffic into the neighborhood.
- Install a sturdy, permanent, attractive fence that attaches to the building and encloses the business perimeter. This is the configuration that the neighborhood council and city departments requested. The temporary, disjointed, unstable, chain-link structure that was substituted (now removed) did not match or fulfill this request.
- Keep the premises and adjacent area free from litter. Pick up trash in the morning before open, in the evening at close, as well as several times throughout the day.
- Remove advertising sandwich board from the public right of way.
- Keep the garbage enclosure tidy and graffiti-free, with the gate closed when unused.
- Do not sell drug paraphernalia at any storefront.
- Post no trespassing and no loitering signs inside store windows in the grocery, tobacco, and deli stores so they can be seen inside and outside and are not easily removed.
I remind you that City staff are able and willing to help facilitate your swift action to improve 444 Maryland W. and the adjacent area for the livability and safety of the neighborhood and your patrons. Staff can offer input using Crime Prevention through Environmental Design techniques, recommend how to close off ingress/egress successfully, suggest where and what type of a business fence should be located and installed, and review the locations of your surveillance cameras. Financial resources are available to business owners who are committed to investing in the community and willing to explore new problem-solving approaches.
Thanks for engaging to help solve the serious issues surrounding your property.
With urgency,
Amy Brendmoen
CC:
Mara Gottfried, Pioneer Press
Katie Galioto, Star Tribune
North End Neighborhood Organization
Mayor Melvin Carter
City Attorney Lyndsay Olson
Police Chief Axel Henry
Central District Chief Jesse Mollner
Director Brooke Blakey
Director Sean Kershaw
Will this Effort Stop the Violent Crime Here?
No.
The City Called St Paul is not serious enough to combat crime in North End, or anywhere else in St Paul.
I’m not sure what the fencing of the property did when they requested it be put up around the parking lot. Whoever suggested that they aren’t dealing with reality. The above suggestion of a gate to block off traffic from a certain approach is not serious either.
High end cars, Mercedes, Souped up Junkers, Cadillacs, Ford F150 Pick Ups, Suburbans are common there. There’s another location nearer to Rice & Maryland that has similar types of cars that stop at a nearby business as well.
Other Issues Not Resolved in 4 years
The other aspect of this place of business is the traffic in and out of the location. In the Covid year of 2020 there were 2 accidents I reported that happen at the intersection or near the exit to the parking lot. The parking lot is way too small for the clientele who frequent the store, the tobacco shop and the diner. I have no problem with anyone doing well from legitimate business but the shop owner has clearly outgrown this location. A solution to a lot of things at this location is to move the store to another location with enough room for customers coming into and out of the parking lot without near misses in the postage stamp size of a parking lot.
The City of St Paul have moved businesses to different locations, just look at the Kendall’s Ace Hardware that used to be at Payne & Maryland Avenue and now is at Payne & Phalen Blvd. They also rejected Cricket Mobile from setting up shop on Payne Avenue some years ago due to what the City Council said was not enough parking spaces for customers. Yet it’s okay here at 444 Maryland Avenue? Something isn’t right here.
Why does the St Paul Police seem to ignore the drug sales here and only show up for shootings? Which goes to my question in my post last year, of Why are Problem Properties in St Paul & Minneapolis Allowed to Exist?
Perhaps it’s political, perhaps because some candidates for Ward 5 City Council like Hwa Seong Kim are out of touch and whose only goal is to enact Extreme Socialism here like her Democratic Socialist of America endorsement suggests.
This article was not authorized by any candidate, or candidate’s committee, the MNGOP, the SPRCC, the CD4 Republicans. I live in Ward 5 and have had good conversations with Councilwoman Amy Brendmoen about this issue. I’ve informed her of nonpartisan issues that need to be addressed. Her former aide Hwa Seong Kim shouldn’t have been endorsed as she doesn’t have the ability to think outside of the directives she is given by her special interests. The DFL has become lazy in finding quality candidates to run The Most Livable City. Btw if you saw my post of the DEA’s Take Back Day, you have to know I was on that website looking for someone to help to end this nonstop violence and the drugs being sold here in North End, as no one in St Paul or Ramsey County government are serious about ending it. ~~ Publius Jr.