Pelham Bay residents have requested the Department of Parks and Recreation remove the benches within a local park to prevent homeless people from congregating there.

According to Community Board 10, many homeless people gather in Miele Park at the intersection of Buhre Avenue and Bruckner Boulevard, making the park a center of drug deals, crime and trash collecting. Some neighbors say they have seen homeless people urinating in public and one woman claims some of the homeless men who frequent the park expose themselves to passersby.

Miele Park is located near a pedestrian overpass, which links residents to Pelham Bay Park. Neighbors say they want the benches removed to discourage homeless people from camping out in the area.

Some residents say the benches are primarily used by the elderly in the area during the summer months. The Parks Department says it will only address removing the benches once Community Board 10 files a formal complaint.