City officials say a cleanup of homeless encampments Thursday in Kakaako is not related to a "Hawaii Five-0" filming session this weekend.
On Thursday, Department of Facility Maintenance crews dumped tents, wooden frames and bulging rubbish bags into a yellow garbage truck on Ohe Street. Police stood by to prevent any skirmishes and said there were no incidents.
"This is all, I believe, part of getting the roads cleared for the ‘Five-0’ shot," said Annabel Murray, an attorney who was helping some of the homeless save their belongings. "A lot of the kids are still in school, so they’re going to come walking back here … and see that all their stuff is gone."
Murray said that before the cleanup the homeless lined both sides of Ohe Street south of Ilalo Street. Although an official count was unavailable of people rousted from Ohe and Olomehanistreets — where the city cleared the sidewalks Thursday — police and others estimated more than 150 lived in the area.
"Hawaii Five-0" did receive a "street use permit" to film in the area, but the permit was issued after the city scheduled the cleanup in Kakaako, said city spokesman Jesse Broder Van Dyke.
According to the permit, the film crew will set up Friday, film Saturday and Monday, and wrap up Tuesday, Broder Van Dyke said.
He said the Kakaako cleanup was part of the city’s aggressive enforcement of the 2013 sidewalk law, which allows city workers to remove items deemed sidewalk nuisances.
Facility Maintenance crews have been enforcing the law five days a week, selecting places based on the number of public complaints, he said.
Broder Van Dyke said the cleanup in Kakaako was not generated by a complaint from "Hawaii Five-0," but that the production crew planned their shoot for after the city’s cleanup operation.
Usually the city clears Kakaako’s sidewalks once a month, but crews skipped Kakaako in October because they were busy cleaning up other areas, Broder Van Dyke said. The city last enforced the sidewalk law in Kakaako on Sept. 4.
In October, city crews cleaned up areas of Aala Park, College Walk, Ala Moana Beach Park, Ala Wai Park, Old Stadium Park, Cartwright Field, Halawa, Waikiki and East Honolulu.
Broder Van Dyke said that in October the city removed 22.5 tons of pallets, bike parts, garbage and other discarded items while enforcing the sidewalk law.
He acknowledged that the homeless could return after crews finish their cleanup and depart. "Even though its true that people come back, at least we’ve got 22.5 tons of garbage off the street that would have otherwise just been sitting there," he said.
One person disturbed by Thursday’s cleanup was Corilynn, a mother who is nine months pregnant.
"It’s very stressful, every time," said Corilynn, who gave only her first name. She said she’s been affected by the city’s enforcement of the sidewalk law about eight times while living on Kakaako’s streets with her daughter and fiance.
She said the break before Thursday’s cleanup was the longest she recalls.
"It puts a strain on everything," she said. "It makes trying to get housing harder. It sets us back."
Broder Van Dyke said the city uses the sidewalk law to clear public spaces for all residents to use. He said the city is also pursuing housing for the homeless through the city’s Housing First program and will announce a contract to house people in that program within a month.