General Manager of the Fiddler Irish Bar Jenny Seifert and Romani Cafe owner Maria Billini talked about their problems with the homeless community in the CBD.
Service and retail workers along Auckland city's busiest thoroughfare, Queen St, are reporting daily abuse from members of the homeless community - including claims of assault and public defecation.
One of the worst accounts came from The Right Track Sports Bar Cafe, on Fort St just off Queen St.
Owner Mark Cummings said one of his female bartenders was punched three times in one altercation, and they have to remove a rotating group of rough sleepers from their premises every day.
"Usually in the afternoon after three, once they get a little bit of bravado about them, they get their little bit of money, get their drugs, drink, then they get a bit more brazen.
"It's definitely a complication for us, I feel sorry for the staff having to deal with it, especially females. Some of those guys aren't small."
Cummings said the police have been called numerous times.
"We've had them trespass, but nothing seems to work. It seems to be the same people, a big group of about 30 of them, always around," he said.
The Right Track Sports Cafe in Fort St is one of the business that has many problems with the homeless community that live in the CBD. Photo / Dean Purcell
Father Ted's Irish Pub on Wellesley St West, just off Queen St, also reported a particularly unpleasant incident of a man who defecated outside their bar when he was thrown out.
"There is a guy who comes in the odd time and he just gets chucked out because he's messy, and sometimes he's not very happy when he does," bartender Billie said.
"He has the nickname of the sh***er because he leaves a present outside when he gets kicked out."
At 11am Saturday morning, November 3, Burger King at 115 Queen St experienced a man described by staff member Sufan Vaha as "paranoid" who refused to leave the store, and insulted staff.
Inta Liquor Shop owner, Ling Pang, said they experience regular abuse from rough sleepers who frequent the store, and in one instance a staff member was taken to hospital after an attack.
"We feel very scared," Pang said.
Maria Billini, owner of Romani Cafe in Fort St which is one of the businesses that has problems with the homeless community that live in the CBD. Photo / Dean Purcell
General manager of Fiddler Irish Bar on Victoria St West, Jenny Seifert, said staff intimidation is a major issue for her staff.
"I remember when a homeless person came and smashed a window, just because he didn't like the new people that worked here," Seifert said.
"We couldn't find any male bartenders, so I had to hire lots of girls, and they're all scared and they can't really do much and because the police are not that fast. That's a real issue."
A tour of Queen St also found a string of other shops that had experienced issues with homeless including: QF Tavern, Pandoro Panetteria, McDonald's, Romani Cafe, Vultures' Lane bar and the Lobby Bar and Eatery.
A cafe manager along Lorne St, parallel to Queen St, who wished not to be named due to fear she would be targeted, said staff face "daily challenges from homeless people" and often "feel threatened".
"It's a big problem which has only seen momentum of the last 12 months. I have witnessed so much violent abuse from drugged, substance abusers on innocent passers-by it's frightening," the manager said.
Jenny Seifert, general manger of the Fiddler Irish Bar, Victoria St West, says her female staff are regularly intimidated by rough sleepers. Photo / Dean Purcell
Auckland Police central prevention manager Inspector Ben Offner said "anecdotally speaking" they were not aware of any significant increase in the past year of homeless abusing Queen St staff.
"We are aware of some incidents where staff have been hassled in the CBD, however our data is not categorised on whether the individuals involved were homeless or not," Offner said.
Salvation Army social policy analyst Alan Richardson said he did not think some homeless "appreciated the damage they're doing to them and their mates in terms of public perception".
"Aucklanders are pretty live and let live people, and it's just because they get in their face and stand over them and demand things from them that people get pissed off.
"From what I'm seeing, attitudes are getting more ingrained, behaviours seem to be getting more extreme, and the responses from the public are getting more stuck, which is never helpful."
The QF Tavern on Queen St has also reported daily issues with rough sleepers. Photo / Dean Purcell
Auckland councillor Penny Hulse oversees support for homelessness via council's Environment and Community committee.
Hulse said official responses to harassment needed to be clearly distinguished between criminal and non-criminal.
Business owners were encouraged to contact police with any safety concerns.
"But the council, we're more involved in the social end of things, working with the Housing First team rehousing people, the Auckland City Mission, that's where we become involved."
Housing First is new collective of five organisations working together in an effort to end chronic homelessness, and in the 15 months it has been running, has housed 582 adults.
Figures released by Auckland's Homeless Council in October found 800 people were sleeping rough in Auckland in the previous month, with a further 2874 in temporary accommodation.
