By: Hadassa Kalatizadeh
Washington Square Park remains an unwitting party hall late into the night.
To the neighborhood local’s dismay, the Greenwich Village green space has become a noisy disturbance complete with music, dancing, drinking and even fireworks late into the night.
As reported by the NY Post, in spite of the reinstated midnight curfew, on Saturday night and into early Sunday morning there were three separate dance parties ongoing. Local residents criticized the scene as a “free-for-all underworld” without consequences. Dozens of police officers were present, looking on, but without the power or authority to act. Near the park’s famed fountain, partiers purchased alcoholic beverages galore—most being sold for $20.
Ten minutes before midnight, which should have been closing time, fireworks were set off in the park. Wild cheers rose up from the revelers. By about 12:30 a.m., there were still some 100 people danced around the fountain. A little before 2 a.m. on Sunday, a young man spray painted “chose love not hate your city” inside a blue heart on the ground, as hundreds of people remained inside the park. A Post reporter asked the police officers if they planned to enforce the midnight closure, one cop replied, “Not that I’m aware of.” On Sunday morning, the New York Police Department said there had been no arrests made overnight. The night before, on Friday night, unsanctioned boxers began throwing jabs in the park. Unlicensed boxers have been coming to the park to slug it out since early June.
Locals were angry and disappointed about the situation which has been recurring weekend after weekend. “When the sun goes down, it’s a free-for-all underworld where there are no penalties for stealing, hitting, doing drugs,” said resident Samantha Hurwitz. “The police don’t do anything because if they step in, they get accused of brutality, so all they do is watch from a distance to be sure things don’t get completely out of hand.”
“How can you expect quiet in your building when out here you’ve got this mass spectacle, fireworks going off, all kinds of things late into the night?” complained Charles Ortel, another resident. “In a city like this, where there’s a lot of business activity, a lot of wealth, you can’t have a lawless portion of it, which is the direction we’re going in.”
Mayoral frontrunner and retired NYPD captain Eric Adams said earlier in June that the city needed to put an end to the “open disorder” in parks, but added that sending cops in riot gear was too “heavy-handed” an approach.
