Washington Square Park in Manhattan continues to see violence even with curfews
GREENWICH VILLAGE, Manhattan (WABC) -- One week after police tried to institute a curfew at Washington Square Park, they are still dealing with a rise in crime and violence -- and local residents are not happy.
Over the last year, the park has been the sight of multiple peaceful protests, but over the last couple weeks it has become of a place of rowdy late night parties and violent assaults.
Police were again called Saturday night for crowds and loud noise.
On Friday night, things got violent when two men were slashed, while another woman was assaulted.
Someone else had their phone stolen after trying to record a confrontation.
It's been an ongoing problem for police as last weekend they clashed with the crowd after trying to disperse them and meet in resilience. They made 23 arrests and 8 officers were attacked.
By day, the park is filled with people, but it's the overnight hours that have become the issue. Police did enforce a curfew last week that only lasted two days.
The Parks Department says their focus is to reduce large crowds and loud noise. They are now closing the park at midnight, but it doesn't seem to be enforced.
When Eyewitness News arrived at the park early this morning, the park was still full of people and there were no Parks Department or NYPD monitoring the situation.
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