Drug-infested Washington Square Park was by far the most dangerous green space in the city last year — with more than twice as much crime committed there than all of massive Central Park, data show.
The iconic but beleaguered Greenwich Village park — home to so many druggies and other criminals that community officials want to erect a gate around it— is fewer than 10 acres yet racked up 101 reported crimes, according to statistics.
There were 67 grand larcenies, 24 felony assaults and 10 robberies reported inside the park in 2025, figures revealed.
By comparison, Central Park is 99% larger at 843 acres — yet registered half as many crimes, or 52 incidents.
New York University student Christiana Garcia told The Post on Monday that when she’s been at nearby Washington Square Park, “There were a lot of unhoused people who were just doing really hard drugs — like with needles and stuff like that.’’
The 22-year-old undergrad recalled several instances of unwanted sexual advances from perverts who tried to expose themselves to her in the park — as well as one terrifying encounter with an apparent homeless man who “tried to swing at me.
“I ran away, and then I got into my Uber, and he was banging on the window,” Garcia said.
Fellow student Jasmine Greenblatt, 21, said a group of teenagers who were in the park supposedly looking for donations for their basketball team recently tricked her into handing over her phone — and sent themselves $500 from her Venmo account before running off.
“Because it’s close to campus, I still go,” Greenblatt said. “But Wash is definitely my most hated park.”
Coming in at notorious No. 2 on the list of the city’s most crime-riddled green spaces was huge Flushing Meadows park in Queens, where there were 78 crimes reported last year.
Next was Coney Island’s boardwalk in Brooklyn — which the city officially lists as a “park’’ in the stats — with 60 crimes, followed by Central Park with 52 and Manhattan’s Bryant Park with 46.
The five parks also logged the most number of crimes in 2024, with the numbers essentially holding steady.
In all, cops received 338 robbery, 248 felony assault and 447 grand larceny reports across the more than 1,160 city parks last year – with 15% of grand larceny complaints stemming from Washington Square Park alone.
NYPD sources told The Post that police have been “committed to safety in Washington Square Park by addressing community concerns and deploying resources to the area.”
The park was targeted by an influx of cops last fall as residents complained that junkies had turned it into a 24/7 open-air drug den.
And the situation may be looking up, at least on the books.
So far this year, from Jan. 1 to May 3, there have been eight crimes reported in the park compared to 21 during the same period last year, marking a 61.9% decrease.
“This coincides with 36.4% decrease in 311 calls for service and a 68.75% decrease in 911 calls for service,” the Police Department said.
The latest crime stats come amid a controversial push from some locals to install permanent gates at the park to prevent scofflaws from jumping over the flimsy police barricades that currently block off late-night access.
While the park is closed from midnight to 6 a.m. daily, regular parkgoers told The Post that illicit late-night activity is common at the popular green space.
Still, many longtime locals appeared to be against the new proposal for permanent gates, citing a desire to preserve the green space’s historically “free” spirit.
“I just feel like it can really destroy, and create a lack of, community,” said 19-year-old student Zachary Foster.
“It’s so open and free that you can kind of do anything,” he said. “If everybody does what they’re supposed to [and] follows the rules, then obviously it can work amazing.”
The Washington Square Park Conservancy, which maintains the park, told The Post it supports a resolution requesting the city Parks Department “provide a range of traditional and non-traditional closure recommendations that address the operational needs while supporting continued public access to Washington Square Park.”
“We’ve seen how the collaboration between agencies, including the NYPD and NYC Parks, has made Washington Square Park safer and more welcoming for its millions of visitors each year,” said Will Morrison, the Washington Square Park Conservancy’s executive director.
“The Conservancy remains committed to working alongside the City of New York and our partners to support the park by providing free public programs, organizing volunteer opportunities, and funding staff to keep the park looking its best.”
A 70-year-old local named David said Washington Square Park is much safer since the cops started to crack down on open drug use — and noted his support for a permanent gate to close the park after-hours.
“It’s very different. Now you see a stroller, an old guy smoking a cigar: Yeah, I feel pretty safe,” David said.
“You don’t want people sleeping here,” he said.
“There’s nothing wrong with closing a park at night and opening it up in the morning.”
The post Washington Square Park was NYC’s least safe green space in 2025: startling crime stats appeared first on New York Post.
