Adams Street in Greenport has become so rife with drinking and drug use — as well as reports of intimidation and harassment of residents and tourists — that the village passed a new anti-loitering law last week to help police break up the gatherings.

At a public hearing about the new law against loitering last Thursday night, local officials documented a spike in emergency calls that has overwhelmed the small cadre of first responders in the area. Some are calling one narrow passage that runs between Front and Adams streets “overdose alley.”

The new law says that “no person shall loiter in any way upon any street or in any public place in the Village of Greenport.”

Southold Police Chief Steve Grattan told the Greenport Village Board that the new law against loitering will “give us an added tool to address this issue, and if our officers observe people acting in this manner, it gives them the authority to issue summons or to make arrests.”

Greenport Fire Department assistant chief David Nyce told the trustees last week that the department consists of roughly 140 members, only half of them active, including 20 EMTs and two paramedics.

“Year over year our department has basically grown 4%, 1.5%, 5%, 10% in call volume. This year, we’re looking at a 38% increase in our call volume,” Mr. Nyce said. “Obviously, that’s not just alcohol overdoses, there are other things involved. But at the end of July we were at 650 calls. We’re now at 750, which puts us on track for 1,350 calls this year.

“That’s a lot of stress on a small department. So I would encourage [the trustees] to adopt this legislation, even if it’s just to give the police department something to work with to dissuade the behavior.”

Village of Greenport Mayor Kevin Stuessi said that the new legislation against loitering was prompted by “numerous complaints … about this particular area” of Adams Street, where there are also several public parking lots. He described “significant incidences of harassment and folks who are afraid to park in that area.”

Greenport Business Improvement District president Nancy Kouris, who owns Blue Duck Bakery Café on Front Street, told the board she arrives most mornings to find liquor bottles strewn around the area behind her dumpster and outdoor freezer, and has found people sleeping on her bakery’s porch.

“No one wants anything bad to happen to anyone,” Ms. Kouris told the trustees. “But I have looked out my window and found someone urinating in the bushes when someone is trying to eat. I’m banging on the window — and at that point I don’t even know what to do. Chase them down? I don’t know what to do.”

She said a nearby liquor store owner “does her best” to limit troublesome customers to one purchase a day.

“She’s trying her best to curtail it,” Ms. Kouris said.

At the hearing, Greenport Fire Department member Peter Harris recalled that back when the village had its own police department and criminal court, a local judge would often sentence loiterers to community service in the neighborhood.

“They have too much free time on their hands,” he said.

He added that some of the alleged loiterers have been thrown out of their local family homes.

“They’re not welcome at home, so what do they do? They congregate with the other people. Their families have told them they will not put up with it at home, but yet it’s happening to the rest of the public to have to deal with,” Mr. Harris said. “Residents and visitors are entitled not to feel as though they are being harassed.”

In an Aug. 18 post on the “Let’s Talk Village of Greenport” Facebook page that generated more than 170 comments, a user posted multiple pictures of people — not loitering — but passed out on Adams Street.

“Let’s talk about the ‘Open air drug and alcohol park’ we have on Adams Street!” the post reads. “You can access it from our lovely Front Street. Just go down ‘Overdose Alley’ between Noah’s and the Mini Market.”

Many of the comments expressed either frustration or sympathy for a group of mostly men who congregate in the area.

“Let’s try and get them the help they need!” another comment stated. “Get them fed, clean and employed. That’ll help the community!”

One poster who said she lives near the location said that she and her neighbors have called police multiple times.

“I’ve looked out my bedroom window and I can see people peeing on our fence,” she wrote. “I’ve looked out and seen people having sex. People walk into our yard whenever they want. No one seems to care because we’re a bunch of low-income families.”

 In his comments to the Village Board last Thursday night, Mr. Nyce — a former Greenport mayor — said even the new legislation is unlikely to solve the problem.

“It’s certainly not going to be solved by ordinances or anything else. It’s a behavioral thing that we’re trying to get help for people, as well as trying to dissuade the activity itself,” he said. “[Stony Brook Eastern Long Island] hospital is very active in trying to address the situation — they have a fantastic program. But the person has to want to change the behavior, and we all know that addiction is a very serious issue.”