On when I should stop picking up litter in Washington Square Park

October 21, 2022 by Joshua
in Addiction, Habits, SIDCHAs

The cops have cleaned Washington Square Park somewhat of its heavier drug use and dealing. I’ve talked to a few of the cops and they aren’t all from the local precinct. Some came from elsewhere in the city. I talked to one from the Bronx. It sounds like word got around the city that it was worth it to act on the lawlessness, though I’ve heard there’s plenty extra lawlessness in the Bronx too.

I’ve wondered: when will I stop picking up litter from the northwest corner every day. I started in reaction to the drugs taking over that corner and the insane amounts of garbage fentanyl, meth, and crack users create around them. The picture below is of Washington Square Park, though not the heavy drug users (it’s from the Queer Liberation marchers), but it resembles what they leave.

If the drug use there decreases, when should I stop?

I came up with: if three days in a row pass when it’s not trivial to pick up three pieces of trash from that corner, then I’ll stop. So far, I’ve never had so much as to step out of my path to find at least three pieces. How this situation is not a crying shame for anyone else, I don’t understand. We don’t need any litter, yet there’s so much, you can’t walk a straight line in a park in one of the world’s premier neighborhoods without hitting some.

On a related note, usually I pick up litter during the day. Last night I happened to pick up after 10pm, which is very late for me. A couple cops were stationed in the northwest corner, so it was cleaner than usual, but their presence wasn’t what surprised me.

The large rat that jumped out of the can I threw a piece of litter in did. I’d seen rats jump out of cans before and seen many at night. Somehow this one seemed more audacious. They’re nocturnal, I guess, so they were running around all over.

In the case of the rats, I see everyone who brings food and doof contributing, not just drug users, since people throw away so much still edible stuff.

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