The number of drug arrests in Central Park has increased dramatically over the past year, meaning the frequency of drug-dealing has increased along with police awareness of it. According to NYC Park Advocates, drug arrests have jumped by a staggering 850 percent since last year.
However, don't let that drastic spike make you think Central Park is The Carter (New Jack City fans get the reference). So far, there have been 19 arrests this year as compared to two over the same period in 2012. Though the NYPD declined to comment on the issue, Park Advocates founder Geoffrey Croft attributed the increase to a war against kids smoking weed in the park.
"I saw some Upper East Side kids right in the middle of the great lawn last week. You could see the smoke from a block away,"Croft told Gothamist. He was also pretty confident that they were private school kids from the Upper East Side. Imagine smoking weed in the park without cops harassing—what else would the UES private school kids have to complain about?
[via Gothamist]
