Jamestown Police officers, city officials and employees begin the process of removing homeless individuals from along the Riverwalk and the train viaduct Monday, after previous warnings were issued Friday to vacate city owned land. P-J photo by Christopher Blakeslee

Jamestown officials have followed through with a 96-hour notice to clear homeless from the Chadakoin Riverwalk area.

Around 11 a.m. Monday, Jamestown police officers, city officials, representatives from the Mobile Crisis Team and the Parks and Recreation Department began clearing the Riverwalk and area underneath the North Main Street Railroad Viaduct, demanding individuals who are living in makeshift tents vacate from city-owned property and to take their possessions with them.

The notice demanded that any property owned by the homeless had to be removed by today or be disposed of as the city cleans up the mess left behind.

“Now what,” said Rodney “Ruddy” White, an unhoused individual who was living near the viaduct. “We just started the paperwork with county people to get housed last week. It’s the government, they take forever to do anything. But they were on time to boot us out of here.”

As previously reported by The Post-Journal, Mayor Kim Ecklund estimates that between 200 to 300 homeless and unhoused individuals have been camping in the city.

“So, they booted us,” said White. “I guess I’ll just move on down the Riverwalk in the opposite direction.”

In a news release Friday, city officials said In June a single business in Brooklyn Square received 43 calls for service, with the total for the area exceeding more than 100 calls for police service. Before Monday’s clearing of Brooklyn Square, the city completed one encampment cleanup in the area around and including Ransom Alley. Homeless individuals received advance notice of the cleanup and a 96-hour relocation period. Outreach services, including mobile crisis support, were available on the day of the cleanup, and the process proceeded smoothly without incident.

A full story will appear in Tuesday’s edition of The Post-Journal