By John Doyle
The New York Post
NEW YORK — Police have brought law and order back to Union Square Park.
A month after cops drew up a battle plan to attack crime and quality-of-life offenses in the pedestrian and transit hub, the enforcement effort appears to be paying off.
On a recent afternoon in a section locals had dubbed “Methadone Alley” - after the methadone-clinic patients who could be found nodding off on its benches - there were squirrels and stroller-pushing women enjoying the park in the shadow of an NYPD mobile command center.
As first reported in The Post last month, the crackdown was prompted by a spike in crime, ranging from thefts to a stabbing.
Police have since added round-the-clock plainclothes narcotics officers and stepped up patrols to address quality-of-life issues.
The park’s private partnership has hired two “paid detail” uniformed NYPD officers to patrol with city Parks Department’s Parks Enforcement Patrol.
Drug arrests in and around the park have nearly tripled this year, with 65 busts compared with 24 over the same period last year, police said. Arrests for infractions have jumped from 30 last year to 98 this year, said a police spokeswoman.
Summonses for public drinking more than tripled, with cops issuing 99 tickets since January.
“We are continuing the deployment of officers in and around the park to address quality-of-life issues,” an NYPD spokeswoman said.
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