Last Thursday, major law enforcement announcements related to Washington Square Park were released including the conclusion of a long-term federal investigation at the park and the subsequent assignment of 68 NYPD officers to the 6th Precinct, including coverage at the park. Through the weekend it has been nothing short of inspiring to hear the overwhelmingly positive feedback from the community on the impact these recent developments have had on the quality of life experience within the park.

While the Washington Square Park Conservancy does not play an enforcement role in Washington Square Park, we are thankful for the continued collaborative efforts of all the agencies involved in these recent announcements and the hard work of the multi-agency Village Interagency Task Force (VITF), on which we serve as a principal advisor and partner organization.

As a member of VITF, we at the Conservancy have supported the work of the task force in multiple ways. We have provided funding for hundreds of plants within the impact area of the task force within the park (the Northwest Corner). We have raised the funds needed, including through a grant with NYU, to provide three free sets of weekly arts programming in Scrabble Plaza this past season. And we have continued to marshal community dollars toward the park in the form of staffing grants to NYC Parks that fund the maintenance workers, horticulture team, playground associate, and Parks Enforcement Patrol officers that NYC Parks deploys to the park each day.

These efforts in the Northwest Corner of the park alongside our partner VITF organizations resulted in a gradual improvement of quality of life conditions over the course of the summer and early fall. Last week’s announcement brought significant additional momentum on this front. The changes you’ve felt and relayed to us over the weekend have been so encouraging, and we are hopeful that the goal of sustainably improving the quality of life in the Northwest Corner for the long term is coming into focus.

The work is never done, and we now turn our eyes towards keeping this momentum going as we head into the darker winter months, whether it is through preparing for the festivities of the holiday season, planting the annual bulb order that will come to life in the spring, planning our 2026 programming calendar for next summer, or welcoming a new mobile concession to Scrabble Plaza. 

Thank you for your continued support as we work in partnership with NYC Parks to steward this beloved, crucial greenspace in the heart of Manhattan. 

See you in the park,

Will Morrison
Executive Director