Dylan Brogan
A wedding party is greeted with hugs and cheers of congratulations while passing by “the bad element” that congregates at top of State Street.
Malik sits stoically on the concrete wall surrounding the stage on the top of State Street. He’s homeless and has been sleeping outside lately. It’s just after midnight on Sunday, Sept. 9, and cool under the overcast sky. About a dozen people are gathering at the public space across the street from the Capitol next to the Wisconsin Veterans Museum.
With his hoodie pulled over his head, Malik surveys the scene, outside of Isthmus’ office.
“There’s nothing to do here but sit up. Breathe air. Talk shit. That’s all that’s out here,” says Malik, who requested a pseudonym. “You know what most people don’t realize? They are racing to be a rat in their own rat race each day. This is just another flavor of cheese.”
Like many parts of downtown on a weekend night, there’s a party vibe on this corner. People drink liquor out of Powerade bottles and pass a blunt around. Small groups circle up and quickly snort drugs out of plastic baggies. Mary J. Blige blasts out of a Bluetooth speaker. Some are homeless, some used to be. Some are here to sell drugs; others are looking to buy. They are “the bad element” the city has struggled for years to roust from the prominent downtown corridor.
Tonight, Malik abstains from participating in the revelry. Five days earlier, a block from here, he was stabbed by a man he knows and taken to the hospital. He’s vague about what prompted the altercation.
“It was a challenge to some bullshit hierarchy that I never asked to be a part of,” says Malik. “It’s nothing but karma. I used to live a different life. I’ve been catching karma as a result of that lifestyle. You got to pay what you owe.”
One woman asks for a light for her cigarette as she cracks open a Natural Light. She says she’s nine months pregnant and knows she shouldn’t drink. A man named Glenn runs past the crowd towards the courtyard on Carroll Street in pursuit of another man. Eventually Glenn returns to the corner, downplaying the chase.
“That guy stole the blunt I just rolled. But it wasn’t my weed. So whatcha gonna do?” says Glenn, as he takes the last sip of a bottle of whiskey before tossing it in a planter. “All kind of shit happens here. People not cleaning up after themselves. People laying out all times of the day when businesses are open. There are people hustling. Lots of stuff going on.”
Two men begin belting out the words to a Drake song, but the singalong abruptly ends when a young woman starts screaming at a man in a black T-shirt about $40 he owes her.
“Don’t tell me that shit,” the woman shouts. “Fuck that $40. It’s the principle.”
Monty, who has been homeless for a few months, arrives and sees the confrontation.
“We cause it. We cause this shit,” says Monty, when asked about the heavy police presence on the block. “It always starts off good. But it’s never enough. Alcohol. Drugs. Cigarettes. Respect. It’s never enough.”
Malik calls the group the “State Street family.” He’s been trained in peer counseling and would like to help others.
“[Social service] programming needs to be facilitated by those that have been in the streets, or been to jail or prison,” says Malik. “The very ones they need the most are the ones they refuse to hire.”
A few minutes after the shouting match, three police officers arrive outside Teddywedgers, prompting the crowd to shuffle towards Dayton Street, out of the officers’ sight. Malik gestures to me to follow him as he walks towards the police.
“This is a news reporter for Isthmus. He’s writing about us,” say Malik to one of the officers. “Am I trying to get the guy who stabbed me run through the ringer? No. Could I? Hell yeah. I want him to hear me say that to you.”
“Sorry, bar time calls,” says one of the officers as the trio starts walking down State Street. “Good to see you.”
Surveillance cameras at the top of State Street: 4
Times per week the area is power washed: 3
Incidents in the area noted in Police Chief Mike Koval’s blog this month: 5
Ideas being considered to address the top of State Street:
• Putting a gate at the alley between Madison Concourse Hotel and the Veterans Museum building.
• Removing the concrete stoop near the Veterans Museum.
• Turning the North Carroll and West Mifflin cul-du-sacs into a through street.
• Adding more food carts at a discounted rate to vendors.
• Increasing programming efforts since “behavior moves into space once programming is over.”
