An OTBKB and neighborhood resident writes in:

The tree-lined block of Carroll Street between 4th and 5th was a crack depot during the 1980s. Dealers used the tree pits on Garfield and Carroll Streets as drop off/pick-up sites. During the 1990s, there was a major bust on Carroll Street between 4th and 5th Avenues. Neighbors said, “You know that house that isn’t visible from the street? Well, that guy is gone. Busted.”

That bust really paved the way for gentrification. Those blocks were “cleaned up,” many small houses were bulldozed, and coops and condos went up. Now, people are shocked to learn that one of the gentry was running a drug ring out of his Carroll Street condo. The older residents just think, same block, different drugs.