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Confusion collided with heated tempers as Phoenix began clearing out the Zone on Wednesday morning.
The homeless encampment of hundreds of people has become a point of contention for surrounding businesses that filed suit against the city in August. In March, a Superior Court judge ruled that the city had until July 10 to completely empty the zone.
On Wednesday, the city began to do just that at the intersection of Ninth Avenue and Washington Street, effectively displacing 35 individuals who called the Zone their home.
As dwelling structures that ranged from nylon tents to elaborate wooden tiny homes were dismantled, Zone residents could only look on with disbelief. “I mean, what can you grab in five minutes? I can’t imagine losing all of your stuff, all of your memories like this. It’s heart-wrenching," a former Zone resident identified only as Bonnie told Phoenix New Times.
While many Zone residents resigned to seeing their belongings packed into green bins, some were irate. One man flipped off news cameras while screaming, "What the fuck have any of you done for us?" Another woman ran at a news crew, who refused to stop filming. She was subdued by city officials and escorted away.
In all, the first block of the city's cleaning efforts was completed by 9:30 a.m. as the final resident was removed from her tent.
The city said it plans to have the entire Zone, which stretches between Ninth and 12th avenues south of Washington Street, empty by July 10.
Trash and food wrappers littered the streets as city crews began clearing the Zone on Wednesday morning.
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The remnants of one Zone dwelling sit in the early morning light on Wednesday. In the distance is the sprawling metropolis of Phoenix.
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Antoin Jackson, and his dog, Ruckus, oversee the packing of residents' belongings. Several times, Jackson prevented other residents from taking objects that were not theirs out of packed storage bins by loudly yelling, "Hey," and staring at them.
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One Zone resident packs his collection of bike frames and tires into a three-wheeled cart while a worker from Community Bridges, a behavioral health treatment facility, looks on.
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City employees clear blankets out of a tent while an abandoned wheelchair waits to be tagged and packed into a storage bin. The city said that displaced Zone residents will be able to reclaim their belongings.
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A resident of the Zone sits in a small nylon tent under a large palm tree adjacent to Ninth Avenue.
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Shane Benson moved to Phoenix from New York City two months ago. The retired paramedic has been documenting life in the Zone through his TikTok channel @TheZone1438. He said that his 7,000 TikTok followers donate money to help him cover the $1,000 a week he spends on medical supplies for Zone residents. He live-streamed the Ninth Avenue clean-up for three hours on Wednesday.
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Sandals were left in the doorway of a shuttered building. Fifteen property owners in the Zone filed suit in August 2022, claiming that the encampment has "irreparably harmed" their businesses and homes.
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Don, a former truck driver, said he has lived in the Zone for two years. Although he plans to move into a shelter, he is not looking forward to it. “I’ve been at the Washington [Relief] Shelter before. Bullfrog [my friend] and I went and made it as far as the parking lot before we left. It’s awful there and much worse than life here," he said.
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A tearful Zone resident stuffs her belongings into a shopping cart as a member of the press looks on. She was unable to take everything with her to a shelter and had to part with some possessions.
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Although many people in the Zone live under blue nylon tarps, some residents built complex shelters. This dwelling had a door, roof and wooden walls. Inside, an Arizona State University flag hung from the ceiling. City officials lamented that they would need power tools to dismantle the structure.
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City officials donned hazmat suits, gloves, and masks while removing blankets and clothing from a vacated tent.
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While her neighbors were cleared from Ninth Avenue, one woman held fast in her tent. She was the last person to be removed from the city block.
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Security guards were on-hand in case tensions escalated. Two blocks away, a conflict broke out between two Zone residents who wildly swung crowbars and baseball bats. The incident was de-escalated by residents, and no one was harmed.
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A copy of a recent Arizona Republic sits on a pile of trash while hazmat-clad city officials remove a Zone structure. The newspaper was open to an article titled "Here are the Best Summer Staycation Deals in the Valley." It is a haunting juxtaposition between the city's haves and have-nots.
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