ATHENS – Just a few blocks from City Hall – and renovated with a celebrated fountain in the middle – Omonia Square is so overrun with criminal elements that Greek actors took to the streets to demand it stop.

In an embarrassing moment for Mayor Kostas Bakoyiannis, who has been trying to clean up the city, and the New Democracy government that promised to rein in violence, the actors were joined by local residents in the demonstration against rising crime in the area, said Kathimerini.

Greek National Theater workers were also there, the square being near the landmark, drawing further attention to a square that for years has been a hangout for drug dealers, unlawful migrants, prostitutes and pimps.

In a letter to Bakoyiannis and the ministers of Citizens’ Protection, Culture and Tourism, the actors said that, “nothing seems to have essentially changed,” despite promises adding: “lawlessness and delinquent behavior is increasing by the day.”

The letter said that despite numerous complaints by the workers’ union and local residents to authorities that they “continue to feel scared and insecure even for our own physical integrity,” especially over drug actdivity.

Bakoyiannis has Citizens’ Protection Ministry – overseen by his own party – to help crack down on lawlessness in the city center but to little avail as it’s still a hotbed of criminal activity in the open, few police evident.