Residents push back against 75th Street crowds: 'The party follows us home'

Name: Residents push back against 75th Street crowds: 'The party follows us home'
Uploaded: 2026-09-21T17:31:05-05:00
Duration: 3 min 13 s
Description: Residents say large late-night crowds along 75th Street have led to noise, litter, safety concerns and disruptive activity spilling into nearby neighborhoods.

Residents push back against 75th Street crowds: 'The party follows us home'

Residents say large late-night crowds along 75th Street have led to noise, litter, safety concerns and disruptive activity spilling into nearby neighborhoods.

CHICAGO - They say the crowds could start forming in the afternoon. By night, dozens — sometimes hundreds — of people can pack portions of 75th Street.

And when the party ends, the people who live nearby say the problems don't always leave with it.

Residents describe finding liquor bottles, condoms and even needles near their homes. They say crowds have spilled from the commercial corridor into residential streets and alleys, bringing late-night noise, cars and fears about gun violence with them.

For the longtime homeowners fighting for change, the message is simple: they live here.

"We want safety for our neighborhood," said Rodney Johnson, a block club leader who has lived in the community his entire life — 65 years. "And the residents have been asking for this consistently since 2021."

‘There’s like 200 people up in there’

The backstory:

The scale of the problem was captured in police radio traffic from July.

"They need to bring some officers over here to get these people out of this gas station," one person can be heard saying. "There's like 200 people up in there."

Another voice responded that only about eight officers were available.

Residents shared videos with FOX Chicago showing crowds gathering during the day and late into the night. They also provided images from an incident in which cars were shot up.

Johnson says he has turned toward home and encountered dozens of people gathered near the neighborhood with lawn chairs, grills and loudspeakers, drinking and smoking.

Residents say the aftermath can be just as disturbing.

"You don't wanna have to get up the next day and remove feces and condoms from in front of you and bottles of liquor from in front of your home," said Roxanne Burnett, who has lived in the community since 1991 and raised her family there.

‘It’s quite frankly scary’

Tonya Hooks has called the community home since 1979. She is a block club leader and also serves as a resident volunteer with the Chicago Police Department.

Hooks says the activity doesn't remain confined to 75th Street.

"I get calls at two and three in the morning," Hooks said. "It's disruptive. And it's quite frankly scary. I found needles, injection needles on my curb."

Hooks told FOX Chicago some of the activity had reached her alley, two blocks away.

The concerns are particularly significant for residents because the blocks surrounding 75th Street aren't simply a nightlife destination. They're home.

Families sleep there. Seniors live there. Homeowners have invested decades in the neighborhood.

Parking restriction divided businesses and residents

The residents' concerns are another side of a controversy FOX Chicago first reported involving a nighttime parking restriction along roughly three miles of 75th Street, from State Street to Cottage Grove Avenue.

The restriction prohibited parking overnight along portions of the corridor.

Business owners told FOX Chicago the measure was devastating their businesses by forcing customers to move their cars or leave altogether. Some reported significant declines in revenue and argued they should not have to sacrifice their businesses in the name of public safety.

FOX Chicago previously took those concerns to 6th Ward Ald. William Hall, who defended efforts to address guns and large crowds along the corridor.

Now residents are explaining why they supported the restrictions.

Neighbors pushed police for action

Johnson, Burnett, Hooks and other residents are part of a group called Neighbors United.

The group says residents took their concerns directly to Chicago police and presented information about what they were experiencing around their homes.

The 75th Street corridor at issue crosses two Chicago police districts — the 3rd and 6th.

Johnson says residents have worked with command staff from both.

"We've worked diligently with both command staffs from the Sixth and the Third District," Johnson said, adding that residents believe those efforts have reduced some of the activity.

Patrick Brutus, a Park Manor resident for 15 years, says residents have also seen police recover guns and move disruptive crowds.

But Brutus says the larger debate shouldn't be framed as residents against businesses.

"To me, to sum it up, this is a quality of life issue," Brutus said, adding that residents deserve a voice in determining the kind of neighborhood in which they live.