NAKED CITY: DAY OF THE LIVING DEAD!

Much has been discussed about the alcohol fuelled mayhem that takes over the streets of Kings Cross on a Friday and Saturday night. Less has been debated about the malaise that plays out daily at the entrance to the KC train  station, spilling out along Darlinghurst Road like a scene out of a George A. Romero movie.

Everyday, with monotonous regularity, from the very early morning to the late evening a group of transients, drug dealers and users gather outside the train station, directly opposite the Safe Injecting Room. At times the atmosphere is friendly and convivial as familiar faces go about their business, sharing grog and welcoming newcomers to the fold. However inevitably it signals the calm before the storm and by midday the otherwise affable congregation has erupted into a circus of bickering, screaming, name-calling and brawling.

Last week the Sydney Sightseeing Bus had just pulled into the strip when two women began a hair-pulling scrap that soon developed into an ugly jelly wrestling-style scuffle (minus the jelly of course). It was probably not the sort of photo opp that the bus load of tourists were expecting but nevertheless an indelible memento of Kings Cross circa 2013.

Fortunately the bus was able to move on to more scenic delights but the shopkeepers and businesses subjected to the daily rumble have no such option. It says a lot for the patience and compassion of the nearby chemist and newsagent but surely the soundscape of screaming, screeching and squawking takes its toll. Transfer the scenario to the steps of the Sydney Town Hall or adjacent to the offices of Clover Moore and see it how long it lasts!

There’s no question that this daily soap opera outside the train station is inextricably linked with the Injecting Room directly across the road and whilst the latter has proved its therapeutic value it remains an alien entity in Kings Cross and a burden to bear for the commercial area. Nevertheless you can’t directly blame the Injecting Room for the action out on the street.

Whilst the local police make calls ad nauseam to the troubled area, breaking up fights, searching for drugs and occasionally moving people on, the problem remains and is seemingly getting worse. Few would advocate a return to the draconian days when anti-vagrancy and anti-loitering laws were used to further marginalise the less fortunate, however Kings Cross definitely deserves a break.

The weekend drunkenness apart, the Cross still has a strong sense of community and on any given day is a pleasant and friendly place to be with its sidewalk cafes and cosmopolitan mix of locals, backpackers and day trippers. That’s as long as you keep well away from the entrance to the train station and the bleak grey exterior of the Injecting Room.

So what’s the solution? Whilst many locals would love to see the Injecting Room moved to another location (why not Double Bay?), its pariah status would make it unwelcome in just about any other part of Sydney. Perhaps what’s needed now is a Safe Dealing Room, an area that would remove the petty dealers and their patrons from the street and encase them behind an anonymous shop frontage like the actual Injecting Room. There’s certainly an abundance of vacant shops in the immediate area to provide the space.

The “Room” could also function as a casual social club, a controlled gathering place for the local ferals, safeguarded from brawls with CCTV and complete with tea and coffee making facilities. Best of all it would be sound proofed, so shopkeepers in the area would be spared the endless cacophony of, “I’m gonna kill you c***” and, “where’s my f***** 10 dollars?”

If you think this all sounds a bit ridiculous or far-fetched, then go and spend some time with the long suffering owners of the small kiosk which serves coffee and cold drinks, directly at the entrance to the station. They are right in the eye of the storm, ground zero in the Day of The Living Dead and they definitely deserve better!