BY IAN M. TORRES
Tensions continue in Manhattan’s Washington Square Park between artists and their supporters on one side and Parks and City police on the other, since law enforcement began evicting artists within the park on September 27.
Meanwhile, artists facing warnings of summonses or arrest and eviction for displaying their work point out that drug dealers, known for engaging in illegal activities and drug use, have been able to stay. Washington Square Park is well known for recreational marijuana use. Other types of drug users continue to be allowed without the scrutiny and harassment artists are currently experiencing, they say. The City Parks Department and the New York City Police Department are both being criticized by artists who claim they are just trying to make a living.
Washington Square Park has catered to diverse artists and people from all walks of life for decades. However, recent changes in park enforcement have hindered many artists from continuing to show their work, forcing them to either move to other parks to avoid harassment or simply stay away from the park altogether. Inconsistent law enforcement and threats of eviction or arrest have left many artists with little room to maneuver.
“Right now I think they like to have this whole thing of power and fear. What little resistance we can all muster together is what we’re all doing,” said J. Eric Cook, an artist who currently occupies one of only two designated spots for artists along the east side of the Washington Square Park fountain.
Cook, who was recently forced to move from his longtime regular spot within the fountain circle, doesn’t believe in the way these ‘new’ policies are being enforced. “Every day, we’re looking at wild inconsistencies in enforcement where they let it go. They enforced this morning up until about 2 o’clock then they decided, ‘you know what, forget about it,’” he added.
NYPD Officer Vincent from the Sixth Precinct blamed the problem on a few bad actors. “The problem is the few kind of ruined it, brought some attention along with the people that are selling the marijuana without a license, then causing problems, causing thefts,” said Officer Vincent, who currently works enforcement around Washington Square Park. “It’s nothing against the artists,” he added.
Activities such as chess games and stage performances are also regular occurrences within the park, though no actions against these have been taken.
According to the New York Parks Department, “any vending operations on public property must receive the proper approvals from the appropriate City agencies and related partners. Buskers may perform on Parks property without a permit, but must comply with all applicable provisions – a permit is required for use of amplified sound.”
“That’s the law that wasn’t really being enforced, but management changed within Parks Department, so they wanted to start enforcing that,” said Vincent.
The New York Parks Department released a statement that read, “Our PEP (Parks Enforcement Patrol) officers’ first course of action is to educate parkgoers to our rules; there has been no crackdown in enforcement or change in our policy.”
Crowd congestion has made it more difficult for parks enforcement to see what is going on all the time, affecting their ability to mitigate potential problems. Officers solely using discretion in the past are potential reasons why it wasn’t being enforced before.
Because the New York City Parks Department is currently understaffed, NYPD helps with enforcement, walking around talking to each artist who is not within one of only two designated areas along the East and West sides of the fountain. Available spots within the park are on a first come first serve basis whereas each city park operates differently.
“Other parks have medallions that they allow per park which means that you have a little spot set aside for yourself where you can register with your name and pay whatever fee and it’s like, yeah, that’s your spot, but it has to be that spot. To my knowledge, this park doesn’t have that,” said Vincent.
In just over a month since enforcement began, efforts continue to be made by the artists, urging park goers and local supporters to call 311 to “Stop harassing artists in Washington Square Park” and “I support the independent artists of WSP,”. This however, has caused a counter action by residents in the area, where on Sunday, October 20, Parks officers evicted six artists, citing five 311 calls “complaining about the artists in the fountain circle.”
Oriel “OR1EL” Ceballos, an artist and former educator who continues to support his family by advocating for artists in WSP, thinks more should be done to help clean it up in other areas. “The drug dealers don’t stop, so I’m like; clean that up first ‘cause it’s happening in broad daylight.”
Washington Square Park is currently funded by the Washington Square Park Conservancy along with the New York City Parks Department. Despite attempts to contact them, neither one could be reached for comment.