The Humanitarian Crisis In Greenwich Village And Washington Square Park Is A Public Safety Crisis
Councilmember Erik Bottcher recently published a letter declaring a “humanitarian crisis” in the West Side of Manhattan including Greenwich Village. We couldn’t agree more and are thankful to Bottcher for bringing much needed attention to the issue. Look at the photos taken by local residents documenting their everyday experience. Bodies littered on the streets. People bent over like zombies. Limbs rotting from infection. Needles that litter the sidewalks. It’s heart-breaking to witness.
The residents of Greenwich Village and nearby communities have watched in horror as public safety has precipitously declined, crime rates have skyrocketed, and our streets have become filled with the mentally ill, drug addicted and far too often, the physically violent.
We must express concern with the tone and the apparent priorities reflected in the approach. The focus of Erik Bottcher’s letter, while commendable in terms of its compassion for the homeless and mentally ill population, misses the mark when it comes to addressing the immediate and pressing threats facing local residents. The narrative is heavily centered around providing care for the individuals occupying our streets, which is of course an essential part of the solution. But what about the safety, security, and peace of mind of the law-abiding residents, families with children, and elderly citizens who are being terrorized by the very behaviors highlighted?
The situation we are facing is not simply one of "displacement" or "lack of services" for the homeless and mentally ill. We are dealing with violent, illegal activities—open drug use, harassment, intimidation, violence, burglary, stabbings, hospitalizations —that are becoming alarmingly commonplace in what was once a safe and thriving community.
We Can No Longer Tolerate Further Degradation Of Public Safety
Last October, a Starbucks manager pleaded for help at the 6th Precinct Community Outreach meeting, because weekly her young staff had to perform CPR and administer Narcan for overdoses in their bathrooms. Is this regular stream of trauma what it means to run a local business or work in our neighborhood? That Starbucks is now closed just as have so many long-time businesses fleeing this public safety crisis.
Residents are being physically threatened, homes and businesses are being broken into, block associations are hiring armed security because the NYPD doesn’t help, parents have to call 9-1-1 to help get their children out of the door, stepping over the strung out and violent people, people are randomly getting punched in the face as they walk down our streets - and stabbings are now a regular occurrence. Please read that last sentence again, because we think you have missed how badly public safety has degraded and why we need you to refocus your message and your efforts to help residents. Violent crime is up 20-30% from pre-pandemic levels, and no one in the government wants to measure or talk about lesser crimes and the real public safety consequence, because that number has exploded, even as the bureaucracy systematically undercounts it and looks the other way.
I recently read some statistics that should terrify all of us.
“Last year, the Manhattan District Attorney’s office arraigned over 63% fewer cases than a decade prior: that is 62,435 fewer prosecutions. And whereas Manhattan used to convict almost two-thirds of those offenders, now less than a third are convicted — despite the overall lower caseload.
Barely a quarter of misdemeanors, encompassing many street disorder crimes, now result in convictions. Even more indicative of quality-of-life abandonment, Manhattan went from 7,500 convictions for violations and infractions in 2013, to just 47 last year: a conviction rate drop from 63% to 14%.“
- NY Post “From public overdoses to protests: Why NYers now seem to tolerate just about everything”
Discovery Reform - How Well-Meaning Legislation Destabilizes Public Safety
The DA’s office is quick to point out how much has changed. Yes, there are many infractions that are now summons such as public urination, smoking in parks, hopping turnstiles and unlicensed vending and of course, marijuana offenses.
That said, 47 convictions last year for violations and infractions? How is this possibly a formula for public safety success? Is it any surprise that to many of us, it seems like the NYPD and district attorney have given up?
It’s not all their fault. The DA is quick to point out the disastrous public policy that our officials must recognize and urgently change. One of the bigger issues is the new Discovery regulations passed in 2019 which were well-meaning and also devastating to the District Attorneys Office, requiring an estimated 400% amount of new work for each case, spreading attorneys thin and leading to higher crime.
"The new discovery obligations are indeed so herculean that NYS prosecutors have been able to meet them within the mandated time frames on only 21% of cases. In statewide local courts, they are met on 16% of cases, and in NYC local courts, that number dwindles to 13% ... In NYC courts, dismissals rose from 44% of all disposed cases in 2019, to 69% in 2021.”
- Manhattan Institute: Destroyed by Discovery: How New York State’s Discovery Law Destabilizes the Criminal Justice System
“In 2019, prosecutors downgraded 39% of felony arrests to misdemeanors; last year it was 54%. And for felony property crimes, the rate nearly doubled from 24% in 2019 to a record-high 46% property-crime felonies downgraded to misdemeanors last year.”
- Manhattan Institute: Why Discovery Reform Is Boosting Crime
With the additional work required, the DA’s office insist they need 80 more lawyers just to keep up. These numbers show how rapidly destabilizing well-meaning legislation can be. The system is buckling and failing us and it’s time we get shared agreement of what is happening to us.
Shifting The Focus To The Public Safety Of Residents And Voters
Meanwhile, the NYPD tell us that the increased responsibility is now on us and we should make 3-1-1 and 9-1-1 calls - and we have en masse- only to find the police don’t come or they close the 3-1-1 ticket without addressing the problem because it’s “a DHS issue” or some other deflection. Police point to the DA. The DA points to the legislature. It’s always somebody else’s issue. We have exhausted our efforts and have seen no change. This is your issue. For most of us, it’s the primary issue you need to address and now.
By framing this as solely a humanitarian crisis for those living on the streets, our representatives are ignoring the public safety crisis being suffered by the very constituents they are supposed to represent—the homeowners, residents, the families, and the children who deserve protection and safety. This is not a problem that can be solved only with more social workers in police precincts or pilot programs for behavioral health responses. These are, at best, long-term solutions that do little to address the urgent and immediate public safety crisis unfolding today.
The residents of Greenwich Village and its neighboring areas are not asking for empathy alone. We are asking for action—decisive, immediate action that prioritizes public safety for all. We demand a heightened police presence, a zero-tolerance policy for criminal behavior, and stronger enforcement of the laws that are supposed to protect us. Fentanyl-laced needles riddling our sidewalks are a public safety threat and we have to recognize that leaving dangerous medical waste on the ground must be treated as more than just “littering” and an unprosecuted misdemeanor. If an addict presents a danger to those around them, and littered needles do, they should be detained. We need to empower the NYPD and DA to do so.
Mothers tell us they won’t let their kids play in Washington Square Park playgrounds for fear of Fentanyl exposure. Their fear isn’t misplaced. Compassion without accountability only enables the lawlessness and public safety erosion we are currently witnessing on our streets. Meanwhile officials are exploring programs to create retractable needles, so that the needles that riddle our streets are safer, rather than preventing needles from littering our streets at all. You can’t make this up.
It is also disheartening to see the emphasis placed on helping repeat offenders avoid incarceration. Many of the individuals you refer to are well-known to law enforcement and are consistently involved in activities that jeopardize the safety of residents and refuse help. Many of us know them by name. While we understand the desire to provide them with services, as we share that desire and hope that they engage to give them the best hope at recovery. But we also recognize they often refuse those services and relying solely on services with no punitive backstop is effectively non-action. The residents who are repeatedly victimized by these same individuals deserve far more than hollow reassurances and deserve your compassion as well.
The Time For Action Is Now - Before November
Our community cannot continue to suffer the consequences of failed policies that prioritize the rights of the few at the expense of the safety of the many. We urge you to recognize that there are two sides to this crisis: the well-being of the homeless and mentally ill, and the well-being of the families who call these neighborhoods home.
What will you do to make sure hypodermic needles don’t litter our streets? Will you involuntarily detain people who leave their needles on streets as a danger to those around them?
Will you prioritize updated legislation or revert the disastrous legislation of Discovery Reform?
The 6th precinct has half the number of officers as 5 years ago. Will you demand the budget to properly staff our NYPD (and how will you get them off their mobile phones half the time)?
What are you doing to summon all the resources across Sanitation, Department of Homeless Services, and Parks to focus on our needs now?
How will you prevent the drug addicted and mentally ill from terrorizing and assaulting residents? Will you stiffen penalties for repeat offenders?
We demand action, not more delays or bureaucratic initiatives. The time for decisive, results-driven leadership is now.
We call on representatives like Councilmembers Eric Bottcher and Carlina Rivera, Assemblymember Deborah Glick, State Senators Brad Kavanaugh and Brad Hoylman, Community Board 2, NYPD 6th Precinct, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine, and NYC Mayor Eric Adams to act. November elections are coming and we deserve both their attention and their action to show they are still committed to representing us.
Sincerely,
Trevor Sumner
President, Washington Square Association
New York City
Special thanks to the members of the Neighborhood Action Group who have documented their lives dealing with the crisis.