'False narrative' on South Side violence is bad for the neighborhood and business, councilman says

Brianna Cobb believes all the talk about violence on Pittsburgh’s South Side is the reason why Urban Tap isn’t packed late on Friday and Saturday nights anymore.

Cobb, a manager, bartender and server at the East Carson Street bar and restaurant, said she doesn’t feel like the surrounding area is particularly dangerous — but the notion that it is seems to be keeping some people away.

“It’s a little frustrating, because I feel like we’re less busy,” she said. “Not many people come from midnight to 1 a.m.”

Cobb said recent law enforcement efforts, including beefing up the police presence and closing down some on-street parking on Friday and Saturday nights, has helped to reduce problems.

“I don’t think it’s that bad,” she said. “I’m not afraid to be down here alone.”

Her comments came less than a week after a man was shot and killed early July 9 at East Carson and South 13th streets. Video shared on social media showed a crowded street turn chaotic in the moments after shots were fired.

Last summer, an uptick in gun violence in the neighborhood left some visitors and business owners on edge. Local officials responded with additional policing, parking restrictions and promises to engage with the community to seek further solutions.

Pittsburgh City Councilman Bruce Kraus, D-South Side, said the “false narrative” that the South Side is dangerous is hurting good businesses.

“The idea that the sky is falling only encourages further disruption,” Kraus said in response to news that Carson City Saloon, a longtime business along East Carson, has closed temporarily because of concerns about recent gun violence and concerns from staff.

Last year, Fudge Farm closed its East Carson location because of similar worries.

Rich Cupka, who owns multiple South Side bars, said none of his businesses is located in the most problematic stretch of East Carson Street, but the problems there still impact him.

“No one wants to invest in the South Side with all the violence and crime,” he said. “It’s costing everybody. It’s costing the businesses. It’s costing the employees.”

He said he doesn’t think the concerns about violence are overblown.

“This isn’t imagined. This isn’t someone creating a crisis,” he said. “It’s open and notorious — murder, rapes, robberies. It’s chronic.”

He called for additional policing and said he’d like to see police making more arrests for “all violations.”

Cupka said his businesses haven’t needed to take many extra security measures, but they are cautious and keep an eye out to ensure employees are able to make it to their cars safely at the end of the night.

Kraus said it’s “simply not helpful” when people propagate fears about the South Side neighborhood and its East Carson Street entertainment district.

“It says to good customers, ‘You simply can’t come here,’ and to bad customers, ‘This is where you want to be,’ ” he said.

Geber Sharafaldin, who works at Glass Smoke and Vape in South Side, said he has seen fights outside and knows there have been shootings in the area. But in his experience working there for nearly a year, he said, most customers who come into the shop are respectful and not looking to cause trouble. The most common problem he has is with shoplifting.

Tom Hurney, who owns Metropolitan Cleaners on East Carson, said he has seen the neighborhood experience ups and downs during his decades of operating a business there.

“You get years when you’re on the top, and now we’re in a low cycle” with lots of empty storefronts and some disruptive crowds coming in late at night on weekends, he said.

Hurney said he is not afraid to there at any hour of the day.

“I feel comfortable,” he said. “If you leave people alone, they leave you alone.”

He acknowledged the atmosphere changes from day to night.

“During the day, it’s every bit as safe as any other neighborhood,” he said. “During the night, it changes.”

South Side resident Erek Dannenberg, 27, said he feels like his neighborhood has gotten safer since he moved there in 2021. He said he thinks he has heard about violence more frequently than in prior summers, but it isn’t something that concerns him, and he personally has had no issues.

“In general, the South Side seems like a pretty safe community,” he said as he walked down East Carson on Thursday morning. “There’s a lot to offer around here.”

He said it’s frustrating to hear people saying negative things about his community.

“I think the fact there has been some difficulties has kept people away, which hurts a lot of the small shops and businesses down here,” Dannenberg said.

Brett Czekaj, 34, who has lived in the neighborhood for about seven years, added: “It stinks these things are happening here, but it’s happening all over the city and all over the country.”

It’s not fair — or accurate — to say that South Side as a whole is violent, dangerous or otherwise problematic, Kraus said.

“South Side is from Station Square through the historic district into South Side Works and into South Side Slopes,” Kraus said. “The positive amenities are light years more apparent than the fact there are about three blocks that have a couple disruptive licenses.”

Kraus said certain businesses there are “being intentionally disruptive” and hurting the many good businesses that surround them in the process. He did not identify those businesses.

The city is gearing up its disruptive properties board to address such issues. The board will help enforce regulations around disruptive or nuisance properties.

Kraus also urged state leaders to address issues around liquor license enforcement, which he said contributes to the disruptions. Pennsylvania is a controlled state, meaning it sells the liquor license and alcohol, and then is tasked with enforcing issues around alcohol and liquor licenses.

“You need a system of checks and balances,” Kraus said. “I believe the state always errs on the side of revenue and not the side of enforcement.”

Police Chief Larry Scirotto said police are increasing patrols in the area and adding seven officers dedicated to the South Side entertainment district Thursdays through Sundays.

“They’ll focus on partnering with the business community, bars and the residential community to keep Carson Street safe,” he said.

The chief called on bars to stop overcrowding and overserving, and said anyone younger than 21 shouldn’t be there at night.

“We’ve just got to work together,” he said. “Come down there with a mindset of being responsible and controlling your behavior.”

Scirotto acknowledged that last weekend’s fatal shooting in the South Side was a “tragic event,” but said the area mostly isn’t as dangerous as some people make it out to be.

“South Side is not dangerous. It’s chaotic,” he said. “Getting the chaos under control is a primary objective of mine.”

Mayor Ed Gainey similarly called on local businesses and bars to “play a part” in curbing the violence.

“It takes everybody,” he said.

The mayor pointed out that last year, his administration worked with local residents and businesses to try to find solutions to the problems the neighborhood faced. He walked through East Carson Street one evening last summer to see what the scene there looked like for himself.

“Last year, when we had a spike in violence, we did what was necessary to shut it down,” he said, adding he hopes to do the same again this year.

The mayor in a statement blamed recent violence on “the mixture of easy access to a gun and the inability to self-regulate emotional responses to conflict.”

“This issue isn’t about the number of officers on our streets, but about the number of guns in our city,” he said.

Pittsburgh has 800 officers. The city budget includes money for 900 officers.