EDITORIAL: Federal Hill’s Violence - Raymond and Buddy Are Not Coming to Help
EDITORIAL
EDITORIAL: Federal Hill’s Violence - Raymond and Buddy Are Not Coming to Help
The once proud Italian-American neighborhood is turning into a battle zone where people are getting hurt.
The violence is adversely impacting the responsible business owners who hear endlessly, “I love your place, but I don’t want to deal with the chaos.”
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTEarly Saturday morning, an argument turned into a hideous assault where a man was allegedly attacked by a woman wielding a high-heeled shoe. He was then reportedly hit with a concrete cinder block.
He was hospitalized.
Then, on Sunday night, a couple eating al fresco faced an assailant with a gun and an attempted robbery.
Unfortunately, these distressing incidents were far from an aberration — they are more and more the norm on the Hill.
The causes are not that the restaurants have shifted from Italian cuisine to a range of other ethnic options.
The problem is that too many of the restaurants, clubs, and hookah bars are motivated by wheeling and dealing for the short-term buck rather than creating a long-term solution for a safe neighborhood.
Too often, the same clubs seem to be at the center of the issues and represented by the same lawyers.
In March, GoLocal unveiled that a Federal Hill nightclub — that was shut down for 72 hours after three men were stabbed that weekend — has the same ownership that had their liquor license revoked in 2021 in Pawtucket after a series of violations and violent episodes.
VL Restaurant and Lounge on Atwells Avenue and the former Vibe Lounge in Pawtucket are owned in part or in whole by husband and wife Victor and Leslie Silva. The couple lives in Cranston.
According to police, the March altercation took place inside VL Lounge, and victims told police that they had been stabbed in a fight inside the establishment.
Providence Police are disproportionately deployed on Federal Hill, and this is not enough.
This decline has gone on for years and there have been a number of violent deaths.
It is time for Mayor Brett Smiley and Council President Rachel Miller to take some responsibility and take steps to protect those who visit the area or live nearby. Miller is the Councilor for the area but seems too often oblivious to the issues.
The existing strategy is not working and the excuses are running out.
Maybe there should be a shutdown at 1 AM or 12 midnight for the summer.
Operations that repeatedly have incidents should see greater penalties than 2-3 day shutdowns.
If this weekend was not enough, what will the amount of violence needed to take action?