Doing The Dirty Deal In Front Of Hawthorn (Sic) Crossings Strip Mall

In a spirit of full disclosure, I should mention Megan Goodmundson gave me a ride to the 5th Ward DFL Credentials Committee meeting. Megan is affiliated with the campaign of Don Samuels. I am, however, a Green Party member and have never been DFL. 

While we were waiting for traffic at Bryant Ave. N. and West Broadway Ave., Megan saw a drug deal go down right in front of us, across from Hawthorn (Sic) Crossings Strip Mall.

"Did you see it?" Megan asked. "Did you see the hand off?"

Well, I'd seen how two men going in opposite directions had gone very close to each other. I'd caught the odd movement of hands coming together but no pausing, like you would pause to greet somebody with a handshake or fist bump variation. But Megan had seen the deal go down because she was watching for it, anticipating it. I asked who was the receiver versus passer; i.e., who had the crack right now? Megan indicated it was the guy jaywalking across Broadway.

Hey, when...

...you smoke crack, who cares about a little jaywalking, right?

I managed to snap this photo as we passed by on the way to the Credentials Committee meeting. I didn't bother calling 911. What am I going to say? There's a nondescript male in front of Hawthorn (Sic) Crossings who just got some kind of "hand off" on the 900 block of West Broadway? I may as well call the street department and tell them about cracks in the sidewalk. If I'd been stationary at that moment, heck yes, I would have made the call. But being in a hurry and being unable to keep my eyes on the suspect, it would have been a big waste of time.

No, it's better to snap a picture, get on my blog, and point out the 900 Block of Broadway--especially the area in front of Hawthorn (sic) Crossings strip mall--continues to be an open air drug market. (Though, to be fair, it spills all over the 900 block, on both sides of the street)

Did I mention this strip mall is my blog bitch and I will write about this place until something fundamentally changes? Yeah, I think I did.