NYU students lament loss of Washington Sq. Park’s homeless junkies — even as classmate is brutally attacked by vagrant
They’re telling the city that common sense is overdue.
NYU students complain that Washington Square Park has lost its luster now that police have pushed out drug users and vagrants—yet even as the park’s “homey” vibe fades, one of their own was suddenly assaulted by a violent hobo this week near the green space.
“With the local unhoused community now almost entirely displaced, a once vibrant park is now characterized by an uncanny stillness,” the student paper Washington Square Park News observed.
Students at the $60,000‑a‑year university sprayed the message, “Where are our neighbors?” in chalk across the walkways, longing for the homeless junkies who had once filled the park’s infamous northwest corner.
“I feel like a large community is gone,” said first‑year Caspin Berklee, who used to feed pigeons there. “The park was a home for them.”
Another student echoed a familiar Democratic Socialists of America refrain.
“The criminalization of poverty is never the solution to anything,” said social‑work and public‑policy student Sara Karp. “It ruins the form of community that these people have built and puts them in riskier situations.”
Last month, after federal agents busted a huge drug‑dealing ring, the NYPD swelled the police presence around Washington Square with roughly 70 extra officers for a 24/7 operation designed to clear the long‑standing drug scene. Neighbors largely celebrated the crackdown.
The students’ frustration deepened when one of their own was randomly attacked by a violent homeless man this week.
On Monday, 20‑year‑old NYU student Amelia Lewis was walking to class when a creepy stranger with a long history of sex crimes approached her from behind, slapped her butt, yanked her hair, and slammed her to the ground.
“These people are disgusting, and they should not be able to be walking around the streets freely targeting girls,” Lewis said on X after the incident. “I should not be scared to walk to my 9:30 am class.”
The alleged attacker, 45‑year‑old James Rizzo, carries an extensive rap sheet of crimes around the park. Police claim he returned the next day to burglarize four apartments in Washington Square Village in the early morning while residents slept.
When the police finally detained him, they discovered he was the same individual linked to Monday’s assault. He had been squatting in an empty penthouse of a university‑owned building, the student paper reported.
NYU’s daily crime log is riddled with incidents near Washington Square Park—102 reports last month alone included stalking, harassment, fondling, robbery, larceny, and extortion. In 2025, the Sixth Precinct has recorded 14 rapes and 71 other sex crimes, a 9 % rise over last year.
Yet, during a recent interview at the park, NYU students said the area had “turn from homey to hostile.”
“The vibe was better before, I low‑key avoid the park now,” admitted sophomore Sharnova Nashra. “The same energy isn’t there. It’s just less welcoming.”
“I hate it,” another student muttered. “It feels devoid of the spirit of New York.”
Adult residents have a different perspective. Trevor Sumner, president of the Washington Square Association, slammed the situation:
“Hostile is a drug ring that’s been operating in the park for the last four years, distributing millions of doses of fentanyl, heroin and crack,” he said.
“Hostile is walking through the park and being harassed by mentally ill people who are violent at much greater rates. Hostile is women getting punched in the face, stabbings becoming regular, areas of the park that people are too afraid to walk in.”
Overall, most residents of Washington Square Park and the surrounding neighborhood see the police influx as a much‑needed improvement to make the space inclusive for everyone.
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