BY LINCOLN ANDERSON AND EVERYNIGHT CHARLEY CRESPO | All quiet on the Washington Square front.
Police emptied out Washington Square Park on Friday night around its midnight closing time without incident.
Captain Cedric Green, the Sixth Precinct’s executive officer, was in charge of the park’s police detail this night.
“It went smoothly, thank God,” he said, speaking around 1 a.m. He said a few parkgoers had “engaged a bit more than others” with the police as they were clearing the space, but that it had been nothing too serious.
Meanwhile, Washington Square’s displaced late-night rave and musicians apparently just moved a little way across town.
Around 2 a.m., a dance party with amplified sound was happening outside Niagara bar, at the southeast corner of E. Seventh St. and Avenue A. Queuing up the tunes was a deejay with a portable amplifier who was a mainstay of the Washington Square rave scene.
Also, across the street, inside Tompkins Square Park some of the musicians who normally used to jam in Washington Square Park until recently were playing, on drums, keyboards, saxophone and more.
There was a police car in the park but the officers were not doing anything about the amplified jams. At one point the squad car moved forward a bit, but just to allow the park gate to be closed.
A staple of pandemic dance parties, rolling amps continue to be in vogue. Earlier, around 1:30 a.m., a crowd was hanging out in front of the pizzeria on University Place at 13th St., listening to Drake’s “Contralla” pumping from a portable amp in a cart. The music was not too loud — but that was probably because there were a bunch of police standing nearby on the corner and also a couple of officers talking to the doormen at Bar 13 across the street.
instead of shutting down parks, why not just arrest those who are selling drugs, using drugs, and playing music. let the quiet people enjoy themselves. you ever notice they always have tons of cops out there but they never do anything, and when they do, they come in military formation, targeting everyone, whether they’re playing music or not.
9th Pct. will enforce this when the NY Times instructs them to do so.
Gee, who could have seen THAT coming? 9th Pct, get off your asses and out of your squad cars and do the jobs the taxpayers are paying you for!
keep electing the trash who run the city, & you get trash.
Thompson Square Park is just as important to hold to the standards of Washington Square Park. Amplified music and raves should not be allowed…and why do the police do nothing about it?
Amps on the street (University Place or Harlem) should be banned totally. People living in apartments should not have this constant noise coming into their HOMES.