Greyhound’s move from crime-plagued Midtown location has Magnolia Park residents on edge

As he waited at Houston’s new main Greyhound station in Magnolia Park for a ride to a halfway house after serving a 19-month prison term, Herman Stokley recalled the scene that greeted travelers at the old bus depot.

Stokley said drug-dealers on a seedy stretch of Main Street in Midtown would spot the formerly incarcerated and pitch them as soon as they got off the bus.

“Good riddance,” he said. “It was terrible.”

Stokley and several other formerly incarcerated people interviewed earlier this month called the new station a dramatic improvement, but said they had no intention of lingering there. Their mere presence in the neighborhood – prompted by Greyhound’s abrupt announcement in November that it was moving there – has sparked a backlash, however.

Magnolia Park residents say they worry the crime that plagued the old station could shift to the new one. So far, according to Houston Police Department statistics, those fears have not borne out.

Political leaders are united in frustration over the bus carrier’s sudden move, but are divided on how to respond.

Some, including state Rep. Christina Morales, D-Houston, say they will stop at nothing less than forcing Greyhound out. Others, such as City Councilmember Joaquin Martinez, say it is more realistic for officials to try to make the station and its surroundings as safe as they can.

Moreno said she is glad she already had installed a surveillance network around her home – 21 Ring security cameras to keep an eye on her rescue dogs. Pulling out her phone, she points to an email she received that morning about a theft a few blocks away.

“We never had that many alerts,” Moreno said.

Standing across from the Greyhound station, nonprofit leader Deb Walker said she could understand the neighborhood’s concerns. In her experience, however, people leaving prison simply are trying to get home as fast as they can.

Walker is the cofounder of 7More , a faith-based nonprofit that for years has assisted thousands of formerly incarcerated residents returning to Houston. On an unseasonably warm day last week, her group handed out bags with toiletries, donated t-shirts and bottled water to people waiting for their next bus.

Lea Grant, 44, was on her way to her mother and husband in Fort Worth after serving a six-month sentence. With no connections to Houston, Grant said she had no desire to spend any longer in the city than 45 minutes before her next bus.

“My family is so excited. They’re waiting on me,” she said.

Walker said the new station is a vast improvement from the old one, where people leaving prison would be swarmed by dealers and swindlers.

“The people from TDCJ have never been the problem,” Walker said. “They are trying to go on from there. It was, at the other Greyhound, the people in the area that were the problem.”

In response to neighborhood concerns, Martinez has pumped tens of thousands of dollars of his council district funds into additional, overtime patrols from police. Moreno said the added sweeps have given her some sense of security.

Morales, the state representative, said it was unfair that Martinez has to spend limited district funds on extra police patrols instead of amenities for the underserved neighborhood.

She says the city should push harder to force Greyhound out of the neighborhood. She wants Greyhound to move to an industrial area, though she has not identified a location.

“Yes, they’re a private business, I get it, and they have a lease,” Morales said. “But, hey, when children’s safety is at risk, we should be outraged. And I am outraged and I will continue to be a thorn in their side until they move.”

Spreading civility

Pointing to the lease, Martinez said there is little the city can do to force Greyhound out. Hypothetically, the city could launch a lawsuit targeting the station as a nuisance property, he said. He sees that as a worst-case scenario, however.

“You need a certain number of crimes and a certain type of crime. And my goal is that we don’t ever get to that point,” he said.

Instead, Martinez said he will keep directing district money toward police patrols. He also is working with the East End District and neighborhood leaders to craft a petition for an expansion of the city’s “civility ordinance.”

The ordinance allows police to ticket people for sitting, lying down or placing any personal possessions on a sidewalk between the hours of 7 a.m. and 11 p.m.

Critics say the ordinance criminalizes homelessness. Supporters say the threat of citation gives police a way to nudge homeless people toward social services.

Martinez said he hopes to have the request on the City Council agenda in about three months.

Editor’s Note : An earlier version of this story misidentified the light rail stop near the new Greyhound terminal. It is a Green Line stop.