City unclear on plans for Wash. Sq. curfew this weekend
BY KEVIN DUGGAN
Mayor Bill de Blasio’s offi ce deferred
to the Police Department
when asked if the city will again
enforce a 10 p.m. curfew at Washington
Square Park this weekend, according to a
spokesman.
Hizzoner said he expects to use the
curfew for the popular Greenwich Village
space “rarely when necessary,” at his
Wednesday daily press briefi ng — but
when asked directly about the upcoming
weekend, a spokesman kicked it over to the
police’s press shop.
“Would probably have to defer to Deputy
Commissioner Public Information on
that,” Mitch Schwartz told amNewYork
Metro.
The NYPD also declined to give its
plans for the coming weekend, saying
the decision to move the usual midnight
closing time up by two hours on Fridays,
Saturdays, and Sundays will be “reviewed
on an ongoing basis,” according to Sergeant
Jessica McRorie.
Like many other urban greenspaces,
Washington Square Park had become a
lifeline for pent-up New Yorkers during the
pandemic, but police in coordination with
A line of bike-bound cops at Washington Square Park on June 5, 2021.
the Parks Department, decided to close its
gates earlier following a rash of complaints
from residents about rowdy late-night parties,
drug use, piles of garbage, vandalism
to the iconic arch, and park-goers refusing
to leave after midnight over the past two
months.
On June 4, the 10 p.m. curfew happened
largely without incident, but the following
Saturday night, police called in the Strategic
Response Group and bike-mounted
PHOTO BY TEQUILA MINSKY
cops to forcefully eject some 100 people
who, police say, refused to leave and threw
glass bottles at offi cers.
Videos posted on social media showed
the tense scenes at the park, and cops arrested
23 people for charges like obstructing
governmental administration, resisting
arrest, unlawful assembly, and disorderly
conduct.
Police also fenced off the northwest corner
of the park, a dark section known as a
place to buy and use drugs, which the Parks
Department will keep locked up until further
notice, according to a spokeswoman.
On Sunday night, the park was a lot
calmer and police did not show up in riot
gear, according to reports, and de Blasio
praised the Department’s strategy.
“If we see something structural where
we think we’ve got a community problem,
a quality-of-life problem, something that is
starting to grow and create confl ict we’re
going to get ahead of it. And lo-and-behold,
you know, the curfew was used a few times,
it did help to calm the environment,” the
mayor said at his June 9 press conference.
A Parks spokeswoman echoed the
Police’s statement, saying that the closure
will be reassessed daily, adding that the
agency plans to launch programming in
the northwest section to improve that area
at some point.
“We continue to work with PD to fi nd
the right balance of education and enforcement
against illegal and after hour activities
that impact the park and the neighborhood,”
said Crystal Howard in a statement.
“Enforced closures have been focused
onaddressing large after hours gatherings,
amplifi ed sound, excessive trashing of the
park and other conditions on weekends.”
StuyTown residents, pols tell complex
to pull plug on planned fuel plants
BY DEAN MOSES
Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village
residents want a cleaner way to power
up.
The East Side apartment complex is
known for constantly and consistently
adding amenities for its 110 buildings and
11,250 apartments for residents to enjoy,
including basketball and tennis courts, two
fi tness facilities, a café, and more. However,
there is one new upcoming addition to the
complex that some in the development are
vehemently opposing.
On June 6, the Stuyvesant Town-Peter
Cooper Village Tenant Association led a
rally alongside fellow residents on Avenue C
between 15th and 16th Streets to push back
against two new fuel plants currently under
construction.
A fl ood of elected offi cials, Council Member
Keith Powers, Congress Member Carolyn
Maloney, Manhattan Borough President
Gale Brewer, State Senator Brad Holyman,
and Assembly Member Harvey Epstein,
along with leaseholders gathered beneath the
scaffolding that is currently being used to
help erect one of the controversial facilities.
Residents say StuyTown will soon be a toxic town.
For the tenant association, opposing the
new fuel plants isn’t just about protecting
the environment — but also the health and
safety of the complex’s residents.
“These plants will have the potential to
increase carbon dioxide and NOx,” said
Susan Steinberg, president of Stuyvesant
Town-Peter Cooper Village Tenant Association.
“Burning fossil fuel increases
particle matter which lodges in people’s
PHOTO BY DEAN MOSES
lungs and ozone, and studies have shown
that people who are exposed to high levels of
these pollutants have health impacts — they
have cardiac disease, they have respiratory
disease, and they have cancer.”
The proposed plants are being erected in
the shadow of the massive, nearby Con Edison
power plant. Residents argue that they
will not only be sandwiched between three
power stations, but the two latest constructs
will burn natural gas, reduce air quality, and
add emissions which many children growing
up in the area will breathe.
Attendees accused Blackstone — the
property management — of putting profi ts
before their residents’ lives.
A spokesman for Beam Living, a company
that manages the site for Blackstone,
says that no new construction is currently
underway, and that itwill continue to complywith
all state and local permitting requirements.
The next steps include apublic
review process, which they say will likely
take place over the summer, allowing for
a formal engagement with the community.
Fran has lived in StuyTown for 24 years
and is adjacent to the next proposed power
plant. She says she lives in constant fear and
anxiety for what is to come.
“This is wrong. This is about adding pollution
upon pollution upon pollution,” Fran
said, adding, “This is about a big corporation
adding green to their pockets and black
in our lungs.”
Nadeem Siddiqui, general manager of
Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village, said
in a statement: “The project will signifi cantly
reduce source greenhouse gas emissions
and is part of our ongoing efforts to ensure
Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village
remains a model for best-in-class sustainability
practices. The STPCV community has
benefi ted from $25 million in sustainability
investments during our ownership.”
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