BY THE VILLAGE SUN | No, you’re not tripping if you recently noticed that Washington Square Park’s merry band of weed vendors have been selling mushrooms, too — and, no, these ain’t your grandma’s shiitake.
Last weekend, 6th Precinct police officers arrested a vendor in the park for having a large quantity of psilocybin mushrooms, and they confiscated his stash. The packs of ’shrooms were stamped with names like Hillbilly, Steel Magnolias and Blue Meanies.
“The only mushrooms allowed in Washington Square Park are the ones served on your pizza,” the precinct tweeted, adding a cheeky red mushroom emoji. “When caught with these mushrooms, they will be seized and you will be swiftly placed under arrest like the individual today.”
The only mushrooms 🍄 allowed in Washington Square Park are the ones served on your pizza. When caught with these mushrooms, they will be seized and you will be swiftly placed under arrest like the individual today. pic.twitter.com/zCDWn9xtJG
— NYPD 6th Precinct (@NYPD6Pct) July 16, 2023
On July 6, one of the regular pot peddlers told The Village Sun that he also was selling magic mushrooms — either plain or in chocolate — for $50. An eighth of marijuana (an eighth of an ounce) by comparison goes for around $35. More recently, the New York Post reported on the park ’shroom sales.
Although he had stickers on his tabletop displaying various types of reefer — with names like Shirley Temple, 10/10 and Lethal Infusion — the vendor said he doesn’t sell grass or any drugs inside the landmark park. Plus, pot’s legal now anyway, he shrugged.
“Outside of the park is where I do most of my business,” he said. “I’m not breaking no laws.”
Sounding personally skeptical of mushrooms, the vendor noted he does not take the hallucinogens and never has.
As the precinct noted in a recent tweet of a haul of seized pot, selling herb in the park is not allowed, either. The 6th urged people instead to patronize one of the new, state-sanctioned cannabis dispensaries.
Selling marijuana & marijuana products in Washington Square Park is illegal. When caught products will be confiscated & you are subject to summons or arrest. If you are interested in purchasing cannabis products do so from a NYS licensed dispensary not a random person in the park pic.twitter.com/O6fvPBVYmR
— NYPD 6th Precinct (@NYPD6Pct) July 16, 2023
Captain Jason Zeikel, the Greenwich Village precinct’s commanding officer, said the summonses given out for selling pot and mushrooms are for “unlicensed food vending,” since they are substances that can be consumed.
He said that, under regulations, if the drug quantity is large enough, police will make an arrest.
On Monday, police were spotted handcuffing a vendor in the park. It was not immediately clear what he had been selling. One of the officers was seen holding the vendor’s small folding table.
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