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.
Why doesn’t the city put more trash cans there? How about ( I know it’s plastic and horrible) but giving some of the homeless a big trash bag to see if they would use it?!
I see the problem as too much production more than not enough collection. Like for someone who consumes a lot of doof losing weight by trying to burn more calories through exercise versus consuming less doof.
I think about homeless people who fill their own living conditions with garbage, which happens in Washington Square Park. I think they have a feeling of “no one cares about me, why should I care about anyone else” or “tomorrow won’t be better than today so putting effort in to try to improve it just wastes my effort.” Actually, not only homeless people feel these ways. I think increasingly American and global culture is moving that way. I’m trying to change that defeatism.