TULSA, Okla. — The City of Tulsa installed boulders outside the Denver Ave. bus station as part of a sidewalk improvement project.
Homeless individuals who congregate there told 2 News Oklahoma's Stef Manchen that's one of their safe places. It's well lit, and the people who stay around there look out for one another.
So to lose this spot has them on edge.
“It seems like they’re just trying to do everything they can to get rid of homeless people and, they’re going about it the wrong way I guess," said Robby Laney. "Instead of trying to help, they’re just trying to push them off into another area or another place and it’s someone else’s problem.”
With solving homelessness being a key component to his campaign, 2 News requested an interview with Mayor Monroe Nichols or his Senior Advisor for Homelessness Emily Hall. He didn't speak directly to us.
The next day, he announced a public meeting for feedback:
As part of the ongoing sidewalk project along 4th St., the City recently installed donated boulders along the sidewalk, which will ultimately become the canvas for community art in the coming weeks.
While I am confident in this process, I have heard your feedback and want you to know that it is being taken with the utmost seriousness. Our number one priority, with any City project, is the safety and respect of our community and residents. While this area is often frequented by individuals experiencing homelessness, we have been working closely with BeHeard from the project's inception to ensure that those in need have a safe place to go. We have provided shuttle services to and from BeHeard, which offers daytime shelter, shower facilities, and food support. I am proud of this collaboration and recognize the clear need for more partnerships like this moving forward.
Your feedback, opinions, and voices matter. With that in mind, I will be hosting a public meeting this afternoon to meet with those who would like to share their thoughts on the project. The meeting will be from 4 – 4:45 p.m. at City Hall, 175 E. 2nd St, on the second floor - street level.
I am proud to be the mayor of a community that is passionate about changes to their city, and I am thankful for those who can meet today as we work together to shape the Tulsa we all want to see.
2 News talked to Laney. He is an Army veteran. He moved to Tulsa from California in April and has been homeless since about 2019.
He said he's seen things like this before, categorized as hostile architecture and meant to deter transient people from congregating or sleeping places.
“Really, it was like a shock, like, just a reminder of how people treat homeless people," said Laney. "Like we’re less than people, I guess, for the most part. They think that like we don’t deserve to live or exist I don’t know. That’s what it seems like sometimes.”
But Laney's concern is this isn't solving the problem — it's just relocating it.
“I don’t know where they’re going to go, but I don’t think it’s going to be a good thing for the homeless people or the people in the community who live in houses, because they don’t like us to be in their areas, so we’ll see," he said.
WATCH: City installs boulders near bus station, homeless feel it's to deter them:
The city said a local quarry donated the boulders and didn't cost them anything.
“What this particular sidewalk project has highlighted is the City's need to continue our work with outreach providers to ensure anyone in need of homelessness services can be directed to a place where they can access them. In fact, the City of Tulsa initiated a pilot program in this area, providing shuttle services to and from Beheard, a nonprofit organization offering daytime shelter, shower facilities, and food accommodations. The City has found this pilot program to be very successful – showing that when support services are offered, they are being utilized at a high level. The City continues to work with outreach providers on a more targeted outreach effort at Denver Avenue Bus Station to offer people access to day services such as restrooms, shade, water, food, and case management.
The City of Tulsa works every day to find alternatives and supportive services for individuals experiencing homelessness. We are confident that between the work underway and the good work of our community response teams, solutions are in place as we work to meet our goals as a city."
SEE THE UPDATE FROM THE MEETING BELOW
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Boulders appeared near the Denver Avenue bus station in late July. They took just a few days to cause quite the stir in Tulsa.
City leaders insist it’s part of a larger art effort, critics are calling it “hostile architecture,” designed to drive away homeless people.
WATCH: 'Heard your feedback' | Tulsa mayor holds meeting over homeless, boulder questions
“Giving people access to services, is one thing, excluding them from public space is different,” Dezmond Harris, a Tulsan said.
Harris attended an impromptu meeting, hosted by Mayor Monroe Nichols, Aug. 1, to address the controversy surrounding the boulders.
Harris agrees, that homeless people should be taken off the streets, but he takes a nuanced approach.
“I think though we have to be better at defining what we mean when we say ‘get people off the street.’ I think there’s a difference between getting people in safe environments, that are stable, that are healthy, and getting people out of public space,” Harris said.
Nichols finds the bus station unsatisfactory. The city has entered into a contract, worth nearly $22,000, to shuttle folks from the bus station to the Be Heard facility, where they can get a shower, a fresh load of laundry and a meal.
“These are all things that are not available at the bus station. Why is that? Because the bus station is not a homelessness shelter. There’s no homeless outreach happening at the bus station,” Nichols said.
Though Nichols is firm in his stance – it’s all about art – he’s not blind to the critiques.
“I would be lying to you if I didn’t think that it would increase the number of people going to Be Heard with the boulders being there,” Nichols said.
Though the boulders have raised controversy, and the shuttle service, he believes something had to be done under his watch.
“My biggest criticism has been like, I feel like, [the City of Tulsa] just haven’t done a whole lot to address people’s issues,” Nichols said.
Harris is advocating for a different approach.
“The way you address that is not by pushing them out of the public, it is by trying to figure out how you make the public more adaptive to their needs,” Harris said.
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