Greenwich Village isn’t so freewheelin’ anymore.
The bohemian Mecca made well-known for its anything-goes perspective, counterculture musical scene and clashes with police is begging for regulation enforcement, a surprising new survey discovered.
The Sixth Precinct Group Council polled 600 neighborhood residents and located 487 of them — 83% — need extra cops on the streets.
And 74% of Villagers mentioned the Empire State wanted stronger prosecution for drug dealing, whereas 80% thought New York wanted stricter bail legal guidelines, in line with the first-of-its-kind survey, performed in February and March.
“The village is frequently criticized for being liberal — but clearly the numbers here indicate we’re not happy,” mentioned precinct council member Steve Zammarchi.
No place is extra emblematic of the decline than Washington Sq. Park – the place Bob Dylan used to sing songs about social injustice. Regardless of falling citywide crime, the inexperienced house continues to be overrun by junkies and sellers — and repeat offenders are on a loop – arrested, launched and again by lunchtime, neighbors mentioned.
“Enough is enough,” mentioned Village-raised Trevor Sumner, president of the Washington Sq. Affiliation. “Liberalism is being challenged and people are realizing that our attempts to honor some ideals are leading to worst outcomes.”
Sumner says he would have described himself as “quite liberal” up till two years in the past, however his private views shifted when circumstances within the park took a nosedive after the pandemic.
However it’s not simply within the park. The Sixth Precinct routinely posts on X about nabbing drug sellers plying their commerce in broad daylight on Sixth Avenue — one thing that might have been unimaginable only some years again.
“It’s very hard for me to unsee the realities of the outcomes on the streets. It’s shifted how almost everyone I know who’s active in the community is thinking about voting,” he mentioned, blaming Albany’s bail reform and discovery modifications for the endless cycle of lawlessness.
Main felonies have surged over pre-pandemic ranges, with 1,789 reported in 2024, up from 1,534 in 2019 — a 16% climb. To date this yr, felonies are down 21%, in comparison with final yr.
The conservative shift is displaying up in voting data too, a Submit evaluation discovered. Almost 13% of voters within the neighborhood backed President Trump in 2024, up from the 8% of 2020 supporters, in line with Board of Elections knowledge.
Eli Klein, who runs an artwork gallery in Greenwich Village, grew up in a really outstanding liberal household – his mom Janet Benshoof was the founding father of the Heart for Reproductive Rights and a champion of the left. However the former lifelong Democrat mentioned the occasion deserted them.
“The left has gotten more extreme as opposed to us really going the other way. There’s a lot of recidivist criminals on the streets. The progressives push really soft on crime stuff. It’s hard to believe that a huge section of our population wants career criminals on the streets,” he mentioned.
Longtime village residents say the free-love power of the previous has morphed into one thing much less poetic.
“There’s a lot more crazies, unstable people. It’s just an eyesore, it’s disconcerting,” mentioned Philip Spinelli, 75, who’s lived on Christopher Avenue because the Nineteen Sixties.
Again then, they are saying, they had been protesting for a trigger. Now, not a lot.
“We have literal zombies walking through the streets and framing it as somehow these reforms have given them some kind of dignity – this is not dignity,” mentioned Sumner.
The NYPD didn’t return The Submit’s request for remark.
