Google Maps Declare Block Of Brooklyn's West 8th Street The 'Drug Section'

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Some Brooklyn residents were not amused this week, after a block in Bensonhurst appeared on Google Maps as the "West 8th Street drug section."

A Reddit user on Thursday discovered that West 8th Street between Bay Parkway and Avenue O had been labeled "drug section" on Google Maps.

The Redditor who started the thread, "OneIfByLandWolf" of Park Slope, said he had been using Google Maps to get directions to a Guatemalan restaurant on Avenue O, and the map had advised him to "turn left at the drug section."

While many fellow Redditors made jokes about the mistake, one pointed out that "other than tons of dog crap everywhere I don't see too many druggies," and said many residents on the block were seniors.

Another cracked, "I live 5 minutes from here to the South on Ave P :D Ironically this is where my mom gets her meds !!"

The thread quickly went viral, with a post on the Village voice's "Runnin' Scared" blog and Gothamist.

Both publications, as well as some Reddit users, speculated that the "drug section" moniker may have originated with someone using the Google Mapmaker tool, which crowdsources names for businesses, public buildings and other places.

Pop-up shops, potholes, and humorous Google Street View photos are not permitted, but "drug section" apparently made it through, the Voice reported.

By Thursday night, the words "drug section" were no longer printed on West 8th Street on the Google map for the area. But a search for a "drug section" in Brooklyn still directed users to the corner of West 8th Street and Bay Parkway.

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