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by dougmwne 1807 days ago
I am a block away from it in Praga. There are a handful of drunks, but I understand this is the worst area of the city, but I was interested in getting to know the other side of the Vistula. I haven't seen any rough sleeping or open air drug use near me. Very little public drinking over here (unlike all the students on the other side of the river). Praga has nothing on the Tenderloin.

Elsewhere in the city, I saw pushy begging exactly once when entering the Old Town. There were about 6 rough sleepers under one of the Vistula bridges with neatly folded sleeping bags and they are being guarded by a police van.

If there's a homeless tent city of heroin addicts around here, do tell.

2 comments

For the most part the homeless live inside abandoned buildings or under the bridges since the weather in Warsaw is drastically different than in the SF. If you are a drunkard, you are very likely to die in the winter due to exposure.

Example 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1TyHe7b0SY

Example 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWUmdTvtSJo

An example of people living under the bridges:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Homx6vJ3R0

Some charities distribute sleeping bags and mattresses at the end of the summer so that people don't freeze - no shelters allow drunk people.

If you sleep in parks or elsewhere, the police are going to remove you from there to a drunk tank.

Fair play, might of changed with covid, the many times I went I always thought they should do more for them, same in Katowice, Lodz, etc.. perhaps care has stepped up a bit, always felt safe but that's probably due to male and size. You couldn't move for pushy beggars in 2019
I really think there must have been a recent push to clean things up then based on what you and some friends here have said. I think the Mayor wants to run for President again and one of the richest persons in Poland is making a huge investment in Port Praski a few blocks from here, so they might want a guaranteed ROI, drunks be damned.
Damn it, my message went missing, glad as long as they get real help and isn't just a push them out city center deal