Public places to sit are a fundamental part of any healthy neighbourhood.
Removing benches does NOT save the city money.
Removing benches does NOT make the area safer.
With fewer benches, there are fewer eyes on the street, and it becomes much harder to maintain a local community. People also become more on edge when they don't have enough places to relax.
With fewer benches, homeless people seek out even more opioids to cope with the lack of comfortable spaces to sleep.
A lack of benches affects everyone in the area, rich and poor alike.