Photos from a walkthrough of portions of the “Jungle” drug encampments in Ithaca’s West End show burned out camps, vast amounts of trash, discarded hypodermic syringes & hundreds of shopping carts littering city land.
Buildings and vehicles parked at businesses on Cherry street are visible in the background of this drug encampment.
The approximate locations of the encampments shown in these photos. The triangle shows the area behind Cherry street.
Fires have been a persistent issue in the encampments for many years.
Jungle residents are known to “torch” each other’s camps during disputes, and residents who die in the Jungle sometimes have their camps set on fire as a form of memorial.
A July 11th, 2022 fire & explosion at an encampment behind Found on Cherry street required assistance from the Ithaca Fire Department.
Dozens of expended propane tanks were found at one abandoned campsite. The brass valves have been removed for their scrap value. Past incidents have seen large explosions from propane tanks rupturing during fires that have broken out.
A November 29th, 2021 fire & explosion in an encampment behind Wal-Mart produced a loud explosion that could be heard across town.
The Ithaca Fire Department responded to extinguish the fire. Lack of adequate access roads into the area are a major difficulty for first responders.
Zero Waste Ithaca posted video of the aftermath of a fire in a Jungle encampment on their YouTube channel on October 4th, 2021.
A great deal of debris litters the area. A cash register was found in the wooded area behind Cherry street.
Discarded suitcases, unopened containers of food and an abandoned stroller could be seen among other seemingly random items like a pasta maker and an overhead projector.
Brand new, large coolers were a frequent sight. Much of the debris in the Jungle originates with donations provided by outreach workers.
Three shopping carts of clothes and blankets were dropped off and taken into the encampments Monday afternoon.
Remnants of car exhaust systems indicating catalytic converter theft were found behind Lowes.
A burned out encampment with Wal-Mart in the background.
Used hypodermic needles, blue distilled water ampules and orange needle caps littered the ground throughout the area. A Narcan nasal spray was observed among the debris.
A syringe was seen overlooking dozens of shopping carts that had been dumped into the inlet behind Agway. Shopping carts numbering in the hundreds can be found abandoned in the encampments.
Several larger camps include makeshift buildings. Large amounts of trash, shopping carts, bicycles and other detritus accumulate.
A large, fenced encampment in the wooded area behind Wal-Mart.
Several of the encampments are visible from the roadway.
A Confederate flag flies over one encampment behind Wal-Mart.
Many of the camps have been abandoned, leaving behind a large amount of trash. The presence of used needles makes cleanup efforts hazardous.
An electric shopping cart at an encampment between Taber Street & Cecil Malone Drive.
A pile of garbage at an abandoned encampment behind Agway.
A shopping cart full of trash & used syringes in a Jungle encampment.
Graffiti adorns a railroad signal box just off Cecil Malone Drive near Nate’s Floral Estates.
In November of 2021, Tomkins County Legislator and West End resident Rich John addressed the Ithaca Common Council about illegal encampments in the West End.
Additional photos can be found at Facebook.com/IthacaCrime.