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Manhattan residents say drug use is still a big problem despite success in Times Square
By
Charles Lane
Published Mar 6, 2025
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By
Charles Lane
Published Mar 6, 2025
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Residents and business leaders around Times Square have declared a cautious “victory” over rampant open drug use on the streets of Midtown, while residents in other parts of the city say crime and disorder are only getting worse.
The dichotomy, described by residents and officials in a series of recent public meetings, comes as many in law enforcement say they're struggling to adjust to five-year-old criminal justice reforms, which raised the bar for imprisoning people for low-level crimes like drug dealing, shoplifting and minor assault. Coming out of the pandemic, NYPD statistics showed that such crime had risen.
But at least for the area between Times Square and Penn Station, residents said the tide has turned. Prosecutors attributed that success to drug busts that yield prison sentences, despite complaints about the reforms from police.
“We've really come a long way here,” said Brian Weber, president of the community council for the NYPD’s Midtown South precinct, which stretches between 20th and 45th streets and 9th and Lexington avenues. Speaking at a recent community meeting he said, “Two years ago, we were talking about narcotic activity, unprovoked assaults, violence in the streets.”
During that meeting, police officials for the precinct touted their persistent focus on drug arrests — a point Weber highlighted.
“The increase in arrests around narcotics, I think, is making a huge difference on our streets,” he said.
According to NYPD data, drug arrests in the Midtown South precinct jumped 50% in 2024 compared to the years from 2020 through 2023. The number of drug arrests in 2024 were nearly identical to the numbers in 2019 and 2018.
Presidents of area business groups who attended the precinct meeting agreed with Weber's sentiment.
“A hundred percent it's a victory,” Tom Harris of the Times Square Alliance said.
“It’s tremendously improved,” Barbara Blair with the Garment District Alliance said.
Bridget Brennan, the city’s special narcotics prosecutor, credited the turnaround in Midtown South to close coordination between her prosecutors and narcotics police doing long-term surveillance on high-volume drug dealers.
“We were asked to help out on that because there were just so many issues,” she said in an interview.
She said that because of its transportation hubs, Midtown South serves as a looking glass into the entire city, and all five of its district attorneys tasked her with focusing there.
“If it's not a more inviting area that feels safe, tourists aren't going to come through,” Brennan said.
But residents in neighborhoods to the north and south of the area have described a drastically different experience.
In the Midtown North precinct, between 47th Street and 59th Street, residents said they’ve seen entire buildings taken over by squatters and drug users. In affluent Greenwich Village, residents have described a sunrise routine of drug users meeting dealers and overtaking a section of Washington Square Park. Still, in 2024, precincts for both of those regions had fewer drug arrests than in 2019 or 2018.
At a recent community council meeting in the NYPD’s 6th Precinct, which covers the West Village and Greenwich Village, residents shouted over one another trying to explain to police officials that they did not feel safe despite statistics showing major crime has dropped.
“We who live here wish we could feel that,” Jane Gottlieb, a 71-year-old producer, said. “Drug dealing creates a domino effect. Shoplifting. Broken windows, literally. Assaults. It’s not just drug users and drug dealers. It’s all the other spiraling effects.”
At the precinct’s last community council meeting, NYPD Deputy Inspector Jason Zeikel said his officers had been focusing on the northwest section of the park and their drug arrests have nearly doubled in recent weeks, including multiple arrests of the same person. Yet, he repeatedly acknowledged, his officers have not come closer to solving the problem.
“There's still quality-of-life issues, for sure, low-level offenses” he said. “No one's debating that.“
The attention law enforcement has put on Midtown South has sparked envy from those living in Greenwich Village, according to Brian Maloney, a resident-turned-public-safety advocate who successfully lobbied Mayor Eric Adams for a multi-agency task force that would bring more resources to his neighborhood.
“It’s horrible,” he said. “I take my kids to the supermarket and we have to step over deals being made and people shooting up.”
Maloney, 61, is an art dealer who described himself as a former progressive who now advocates for rolling back criminal justice reforms.
In his sights now, he said, is loosening the rules on discovery, which would reduce the amount of evidence prosecutors are required to give to defendants. Prosecutors have said this will make it easier to dole out consequences to accused drug dealers and shoplifters.
Law enforcement and residents say Midtown South has demonstrated a successful strategy, even while criticizing the reforms. But Maloney said many of his neighbors are on board with rolling the measures back.
“People are feeling very purple right now in the Village,” Maloney said before parroting a conversation he said he hears often: “If it's to make a statement, I will vote Republican. We have got to get the city back on track.”
Tagged
new york city
public safety
manhattan
Charles Lane
Charles is a Day-of reporter focused on breaking news and enterprise. He’s very friendly and can be reached at [email protected], or more securely on whatsapp/signal 631-295-6715
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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