Morning commuters keep their distance from a homeless man sleeping in the covered bus stop at Princess Kaiulani Triangle Park, where the green hula mound is dotted with cigarette butts and human feces.
The park, which is directly across the street from the Ohana East Hotel, held its celebrated opening in 1999 as part of a push to create more green space for public use. Recently, some residents and businesses say, it has turned into more of a haven for homeless people and criminals, adding to the blight of the state’s No. 1 visitor destination.
Outrigger Enterprises, which runs the Ohana East and adopted the park from the city Nov. 1, wants to give it back to the community at large, said Max Sword, Outrigger’s vice president for industry affairs.
"We’ve hired a commercial landscaper to put in native Hawaiian plants and to maintain the park on a regular basis. However, right now we’ve got a problem. There has been quite a bit of sleeping in the park at night. The homeless break the sprinklers and the lights when they come on at night. People are defecating and urinating in the park, and there are cigarette butts all over. We’ve also gotten complaints from residents and other businesses that people are dealing drugs in the park."
Outrigger sought approval from the Waikiki Neighborhood Board to close the park nightly from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. Last week the board voted unanimously to support the nightly closings, which it said would increase neighborhood safety by reducing the opportunity for individuals to damage property, loiter or engage in criminal acts.
"Bus stops and parks shouldn’t be people’s homes and toilets," said Waikiki Neighborhood Board Chairman Bob Finley. "Outrigger has accepted the responsibility to maintain the park from the city. They wish to have it beautiful for residents and visitors. They don’t like what happens after 10 p.m. there, and neither do their neighbors."
Finley said the request now gets forwarded for final approval to the city, which is expected to implement it soon. Toni Robinson, city director of Parks and Recreation, said the recommendation will be sent to the Parks Board, which next meets Dec. 12, for approval.
"The process, including fabrication and posting signage, will take approximately three months," Robinson said.
As homelessness and other elements of urbanization have grown in Waikiki, evening park closures are becoming more commonplace. Many of Waikiki’s open public spaces, including the beaches, shut down nightly. The city already closes Kuhio Beach Park from 2 to 5 a.m. and Kapiolani Park from midnight to 5 a.m. The city also closes Diamond Head Beach Park, Ala Wai Golf Course Access Road, Ala Wai Neighborhood Park and Ala Wai Promenade from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. The Ala Wai Community Park closes from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m., and Ala Wai Neighborhood Park Annex shuts down from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m.
The Waikiki Neighborhood Board endorsed nighttime closing hours for King Kalakaua Park in 2011 and took the same stance last year to protect a community and police cleanup and beautification at Kuhio Mini Park No. 2.
Melody Young, who lives near Kuhio Mini Park No. 2, said fewer people sleep in the park or commit crimes since park closure hours were set.
"The park isn’t crime-free. People still go into the back corners to buy and do drugs. One morning I picked up 45 Saran wrappers in the back of the park. But setting closing hours is a good thing because it makes it easier for police to rid the neighborhood of problems," Young said.
Before park closing hours were set, Young said park enforcement was difficult.
"If police couldn’t catch people in the act, they couldn’t do anything to help. Now, if the park is closed, it’s easier for them to make people leave," she said.
Thomas Foti, general manager of the Hilton Waikiki Beach, said he supports city and community partnerships to keep neighborhood parks clean.
"The more regulation in these parks … gives us a greater opportunity to get them cleaned up over time," Foti said. "There’s no doubt we’ve seen a difference at the Kuhio Mini Park No. 2 since the community started cleaning it up and it was given distinct hours."
However, Young said since the nearby Kuhio Mini Park No. 2 started closing in the evenings, much of the unsavory traffic has moved to Kaiulani Triangle Park.
"The same people are in Triangle Park. I’ve heard that there are drugs going on there, too," she said.
Waikiki resident Dave Moskowitz said he supports the evening closure of Kaiulani Triangle Park.
"That’s a place where drug dealers loiter late at night," he said.
Sword said the park’s planned improvements are part of Outrigger’s ongoing commitment to restore Waikiki history. The company has had an interest in the park since its beginning. In 1999 the company commissioned Jan Gordon Fisher to create the 7-foot-tall bronze statue of Princess Victoria Kaiulani Cleghorn that reigns over the park. Each year, on the anniversary of the princess’s birthday, Outrigger holds a lei-draping ceremony in the park, which sits close to land that Kaiulani and her parents once owned. The princess, who died in 1899 at age 23, was the only child born to the last ruling dynasty of the Hawaiian kingdom. She was heir to the throne when the kingdom was overthrown in 1893, preventing her from becoming queen.
"We want the park to be a special place for everyone to use," Sword said.
In addition to adopting nightly closing hours, Moskowitz said he hopes that the city and Outrigger will consider installing security cameras and implementing urban design guidelines such as slanted walls and sectioned benches to discourage people from lounging.
Additionally, Moskowitz said the city should consider setting closing hours and implementing urban design features for all neighborhood parks.
"We need to make it less convenient for people to live or commit crimes in our parks," he said.
Young said that she agrees with Moskowitz and hopes the city and community also will partner to improve Kuhio Mini Park No. 2, which sits Diamond Head of Vive Hotel Waikiki.
"There’s a woman that’s been living there for about five years, and she defecates and urinates in the park’s back corner. It reeks," Young said.
Likewise, Young would like to see improvements at Kaiulani Triangle Park, which is on the ocean side of the newly built ABC store.
"There’s a guy that’s been camped out there for months. He sits on the rock wall and dumps his colostomy bag," she said.
