Overview
- A surge of overlapping projects in the Bahnhofsviertel, including multi-year closures of Karlstraße and Karlplatz and Mainova pipe work on Moselstraße, has boxed off former gathering spots and concentrated severely addicted people in places like Niddastraße.
- Police say the densification has created large open-drug-scene gatherings of up to about 130 people at single locations and led to targeted operations that arrested 71 alleged dealers.
- City leaders announced short-term measures at a prevention forum, including a local resident‑management contact for the Karlstraße site, requests to Mainova about fence size, and plans to create a permanent construction-communication team.
- Officials will hold a Bahnhofsviertelgipfel on June 26 to align the City of Frankfurt and Hesse Interior Ministry on joint steps, while warning that moving crack-dependent users wholesale is unrealistic because the drug’s short effect forces frequent resupply.
- Local business owners say wide, opaque enclosures hurt trade by blocking customers, officials say the fencing is needed to keep workforces safe from syringes, and the mobility department points to an overload of sites—about 12,500 in 2025 and roughly 20,000 expected this year—as the root strain on coordination.