GREENWICH VILLAGE — Washington Square Parkgoers and new crime data say the Village's drug days aren't over.
DNAinfo's groundbreaking Crime & Safety Report shows that narcotics arrests in Greenwich Village and the Meatpacking District increased between 2009 and 2010, despite drops citywide and in surrounding neighborhoods.
The 6th Precinct made 629 drug arrests in 2010, compared to 610 the year before — a three percent spike.
In the same period, narcotics arrests dropped seven percent in Manhattan as a whole, 16 percent Downtown and 28 percent in Chelsea and Hell's Kitchen.
A 30-year-old Greenwich Village chef named Jeff, who sat in the park this week and who declined to give his last name, said that the Village has always been a hot spot for drug sales.
"Only NYU students would be stupid enough to buy here," he said. "There are undercover cops all over."
East Village resident Michael Imperiale said he frequently sees marijuana sales in Washington Square Park.
"Drugs have always been sold in Washington Square Park," he said.
Imperiale, a 74-year-old retired salesman and disability rights activist, said drug sales and use in the park don't bother him.
"[Marijuana] should be legalized for disabled people. If they need it, they've got it. No problem," he said.
Another parkgoer, who agreed to be named only as Carlos, said college-age drug dealers are a park mainstay.
"My younger brother's friends used to sell [drugs] in the park two or three years ago. That's how they paid their way through [college,]" he said.
