Wednesday, June 26, 2019

New York City's Washington Square Park Is Becoming An Open-Air Drug Market.

On a sunny weekend afternoon, Washington Square Park looks like a Jane Jacobs-Michael Bloomberg urbanist fantasy come true.

On the western edge of the park a tree-shaded alley presents a scene more reminiscent of Panic in Needle Park or Last Exit to Brooklyn.

Marijuana-dealing has been a feature of Washington Square Park for years.

In his 2018 book The Taming of New York's Washington Square, sociologist Erich Goode claims that selling pot is "Routine" and contained-a minor, harmless feature of park life.

About 15 or 20 people appear intrinsic to the park drug trade, with another 15 or 20 hangers-on.

Washington Square Park is a tolerant, open space, suited to all kinds of activity, and New Yorkers surely want to keep it that way.

The city has come too far to allow its parks to become swamps of depravity.


https://www.city-journal.org/washington-square-park-drug-market

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