Pittsburgh’s leaders met with South Side residents and business owners Tuesday evening to discuss potential solutions to recent violence along a busy portion of East Carson Street.

“This culture on the South Side — this was 20 years in the making,” Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey said. So, he said, a solution to such a complex and longstanding problem can’t come overnight.

Gainey called on community members to join together to solve the problem of increased violence along the stretch of East Carson Street between 12th Street and 18th Street, where 26 bars and liquor establishments bring large and sometimes problematic crowds on weekends.

The mayor said public safety was his “No. 1 priority,” and acknowledged that the increased violence is impacting residents and business owners.

“I know violence destroys profit,” he said. “And I know public safety makes money.”

This comes after Gainey and other local officials visited East Carson Street late Friday night into Saturday morning to witness the busy corridor firsthand.

Local officials are already working to implement some solutions, said Pittsburgh Police Zone 3 Commander John Fisher.

Beginning last weekend, they begin restricting parking in certain areas along East Carson Street where police had previously observed people partying from their cars, Fisher said.

“It seemed to quiet things down,” he said.

Fisher also proposed posting signs along the stretch reminding people they can be arrested and prosecuted for crimes commonly seen there on weekends and informing people their actions are caught on camera.

Fisher said he’s aiming to have 15 officers dedicated to the area on weekends, though there were more law enforcement officers there last weekend thanks to help from state troopers and Allegheny County Police.

He urged the bars to encourage responsible drinking, and said officers are monitoring alleys and parking lots, while also watching for underage people who are causing trouble outside of bars they’re too young to enter.

“What is somebody 15 or 16 years old doing at the South Side at 2 in the morning?” Fisher asked.

Public Safety Director Lee Schmidt said he’s working to re-implement a process for identifying and fining disruptive businesses.

Officials are doing occupancy inspections and issuing fines for businesses that operate over occupancy limits, said Lisa Epps, the city’s fire inspector.

Still, residents asked officials to do more to immediately address a situation many said makes them feel unsafe in their own businesses and backyards.

The Rev. Patrick Carpenter, a priest at a nearby church, suggested that officials begin training a new police class, bring mounted officers to East Carson Street on weekends and implement a curfew for minors.

Jerry Morosco, a South Side resident, told officials that the violence and crime taking place on East Carson Street also spills into other residential roads. He urged police to better patrol other streets to ensure that residents living a few blocks away from the busiest areas also feel protected.

“The people that visit, they have no respect for our neighborhood,” said South Side resident Dan Gigler.

Several people shared in his comments. They agreed that people who don’t live in the area visit on weekends, make a mess, commit violent crimes, and leave residents and business owners to deal with the aftermath.

“It’s underage,” said Jimmy Hoffman, owner of South Side Saloon. “It’s no respect for the law.”

Hoffman also reiterated that — while some people blame bar owners for spurring the activity that sometimes gets out of hand — business owners in the area want to see the violence end, too.

“We really do care about the South Side,” he said. “It’s our livelihood.”

“There’s a misconception that the bars only care about themselves, but we want citizens to feel safe,” said Brian Vetere, an owner of Carson City Saloon.

They also want to see other businesses — like Fudge Farm, which recently decided to close its South Side site amid the escalating gun violence — to succeed and benefit the neighborhood.

Residents asked officials to take action immediately and consistently. Many noted that it won’t help if officials try to implement policies while there’s attention on the issue if they relax their efforts later.

“We have made it too easy and, frankly, comfortable for people to break the law in our neighborhood,” said Cassandra Dickson, a resident who also owns rental properties in South Side.

Gainey assured residents they would take their concerns into account. He told them no one was “handcuffing” police, after some residents questioned whether political leaders had limited their ability to police the area.

He also promised to revisit the issue with residents until it was resolved.

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Despite the concerns, Councilman Bruce Kraus told residents that the issues prevalent on a small stretch of one busy corridor don’t define the entire neighborhood.

“When people think of South Side, they think solely of liquor licenses and bars,” Kraus said.

But that shouldn’t be the case, Kraus said. The area has a rich history and contributed significant amounts of steel to the World War II war effort. East Carson Street was listed on the national historic registry in 1994, Kraus said, describing it as “the most significant Victorian business district in the nation.”

“This business district is 33 blocks long, from Station Square to South Side Works, and much of the disruption that paints the picture of this entire neighborhoods is because of six licenses,” Kraus said. “It is not an accurate representation of who we are.”

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