Restaurateur worries perception of New West crime keeping customers away

CTV News

2 days ago

The owner of a restaurant on Columbia Street in downtown New Westminster wants people to know the community is vibrant and safe to visit.
Alejandro Diaz has been serving upscale Mexican fare at El Santo for nearly 10 years.
He says high-profile incidents, like when a man with a machete recently threatened staff at a different restaurant before stealing food, are an anomaly and not the norm.
'What I have been hearing about lately is that there's lots of crime in New West. And as people hear that, people are going to stop coming to the community,' Diaz told CTV News. 'I really think that for us as a community, it would be good to talk about the great things that we have.'
Just up the street, Union Gospel Mission held its annual summer barbecue on Friday, drawing hundreds of people looking for a meal and some human connection.
'For us, it's kind of a chance to connect with our wider community, maybe form that first point of contact with someone,' said Nick Wells, a UGM spokesperson.
Service providers like UGM support some of the most vulnerable people in the community, who are often victims of crime themselves -- not the perpetrators.
Still, people who rely on those services are often stigmatized because of poverty or addiction.
'People here don't deserve stigmatization, they don't deserve to be judged,' said Wells. 'They deserve a helping hand and for us to meet them where they are at in their life.'
It's a sentiment shared by New Westminster city councillor Ruby Campbell, who volunteered at the UGM barbecue.
'If the most vulnerable in your community are well-taken care of, it raises the whole community, right?' she said. 'And so individuals, businesses and residents can all thrive if the most vulnerable are well-supported.'
Back at El Santo, Diaz said he understands homelessness and addiction can make people uncomfortable.
'I respect other people's opinions, but for me being uncomfortable is different than being unsafe,' he said.
New Westminster Police say additional funding from the province has allowed them to deploy more resources to the downtown core recently, including plain clothes officers, in a bid to maintain public safety.