Residents Push To Reinstate Curfew At Washington Square Park

WEST VILLAGE, NY — Hundreds of residents participated in an emergency meeting Wednesday night in a Greenwich Village church about the recent unrest and curfew at Washington Square Park.

The meeting was organized and co-hosted by the New York City Police Department's 6th Precinct and the Parks Department.

Please join us Wednesday June 16 at 6:00PM to discuss Washington Square Park at the Sector Adam Build the Block meeting. The meeting will be held at 25 Carmine street, Our Lady of Pompeii Church. pic.twitter.com/wAF8VCHDnD
— NYPD 6th Precinct (@NYPD6Pct) June 14, 2021

The majority of resident speakers during the meeting complained and begrudged the uptick in late-night partying, loud music, drug dealing, skateboarding, and other illicit activities going on in the famous Lower Manhattan park, NY1 reported.

“I have been a resident of Greenwich Village for 21 years - 18 years on Washington Place sadly too close to the park where my family and our children have witnessed all sorts of things intensified this past year from lewd acts to nudity to drugs crack being smoked on our street,” said Village resident Lydia Carleton, according to NY1.

Other speakers said that what was happening currently in Washington Square Park wasn't out of the ordinary for the space, and suggested aggressive policing was the reason for the recent flare-ups.

The park is back to closing at midnight after a failed effort earlier this month to enforce a 10 p.m. curfew led to 22 people getting arrested, and injuries to both NYPD officers and parkgoers.

In what was maybe the most noteworthy moment of the night, NYPD Assistant Chief Stephen Hughes asked the group if they preferred a 10 p.m. curfew or the regular closing time at midnight.

The crowd almost unanimously picked the earlier curfew, according to NY1.

The action inside the Greenwich Village church wasn't the only important back and forth during the Wednesday meeting

As many as 100 people were turned away from the church and began chanting "let us in." The outside group eventually began their own community meeting about the Washington Square Park curfew.

• Read More: Washington Square Park’s weekend curfew is midnight again, for now