Neighbors Fight Crime Outside Howard Street Store

Evanston and Chicago police have responded to a total of 78 calls at Howard-Hoyne Foods in 2012. Community members met with the City of Chicago last week to call for sanctions to the business.

At first glance, Howard-Hoyne Foods looks like your typical small convenience store, with signs advertising energy drinks, cigarettes and lottery tickets covering its windows. But the black metal grates covering every single window and the 25-plus arrests police have made outside the store since January tell a different story. Neighbors say the shop at 2059 W. Howard St. is a hotspot for gang and drug activity in the area, and Evanston and Chicago police report that they responded to more than 70 incidents and made dozens of arrests at the store this year. After Evanston and Chicago residents met with the city of Chicago’s Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection for a hearing with the owner last week, Howard-Hoyne Foods will…

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