WASHINGTON SQUARE PARK — A sustained NYPD presence set up after a federal enforcement operation is still stationed at Washington Square Park, and park leaders said the detail has helped enforce park conditions while the conservancy focuses on programming and maintenance.

Will Morrison, the executive director of the Washington Square Park Conservancy, told Manhattan Community Board 2’s Parks & Waterfront Committee that the NYPD assigned what he described as “about 30 police during the day, 30 police at night” with an eight‑officer leadership structure based at the northwest corner of the park. “This is staying at the park until further notice,” Morrison said, adding that he has not been given an end date by NYPD.

Morrison said the deployment followed a multi‑year federal investigation documented in a roughly “20‑page indictment,” and that federal agencies including the DEA played a role in the enforcement. He stressed his role is not law enforcement: “I’m not in the NYPD leadership structure. I’m a parks employee, and an executive director of a nonprofit,” he said.

Board members asked whether the conservancy supported a continued police presence. Morrison and others said the conservancy does not request police deployments and that NYPD’s assignments are a city decision, but that the immediate community response has been largely positive. “We received overwhelmingly positive feedback from the community about the police presence,” Morrison said, and added that the presence has allowed Parks Enforcement Patrol officers to focus on park conditions rather than dealing with simultaneous public‑safety and quality‑of‑life issues.

Morrison acknowledged tradeoffs. The conservancy has pursued non‑enforcement approaches — planting and pruning to improve sight lines, artist residencies, micro‑grant programming and a vendor/concession strategy — intended to change how the space is used. He described a new concession planned to operate seven days a week between April and November at the northwest corner and said the conservancy is planning programming for 2026.

The committee also discussed broader questions about whether removing an established group of people creates a “vacuum” that other individuals might fill. Morrison said that rationale, which NYPD shared with him, was one of the explanations for the deployment, but he emphasized it was what he had been told by police and did not assert it as fact. He also confirmed two deaths were associated with the enforcement operation but said neither occurred inside Washington Square Park.

Several public commenters raised other options for reducing public‑drug use, including a suggestion that the city expand safe injection sites. Morrison and Borough Commissioner Tricia Shimamura said safe injection sites and related services are led by the Department of Health (DOHMH) and social‑service providers; Shimamura noted the city coordinates with providers such as OnPoint where those services operate.

The conservancy and the borough commissioner said they will continue to monitor park conditions and will evaluate whether improvements persist as warmer weather and fuller programming return in the spring.