stoweflake

A friend of mine told me she heard that Times Square is turning into a drug den with people openly shooting up. I can't find anything on this except for Fox and the New York Post
(which I don't trust to say the least) . If anyone is in New York, I'd like to know their take on this.

J62

Did your friend offer up a source?

Fra_Diavolo

Could be an antidote to Disney.

marvelousmouse

Has your friend actually been to New York? Because it is absolutely amazing what some of my relatives/coworkers/friends have “heard” about New York. And Chicago. And million other places that they perceive to be dangerous but have never actually visited.

although I can absolutely believe at some point that someone has shot up in TS. It’s a major (unattractive) tourist area in a major city🤷‍♀️

stoweflake

Yes. She thinks she saw on a news feed from the New York Post. One of the two links I could find. Interesting how I couldn't locate it anywhere else.

stoweflake

Disney? Not sure what you mean?

Gretchen

Maybe more of a MacDonald's thing
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/20/n...the-fries.html

Christina

I think that comment was being sarcastic about how people want to escape Disney or be anti-Disney.

I don't doubt that, I just don't think it's anything new. They have photos, although sure, they could be from a different time period, I guess. But the same thing was reported recently by MSN, just copying the same reporter story. And both the articles recently specifically said Midtown or Broadway Plaza, I don't think they used the words Times Square, actually. The Broadway Plaza pedestrian area which is closed off to traffic is between 42nd and 47th streets, though, and does include Times Square proper.

I haven't been there recently, of course, but it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if the situation had gotten worse due to no tourists, coronavirus, fewer people around that area, etc.

HEre's the same issue already being reported in Fall of 2018 by the NYT.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/13/n...paces-nyc.html

Here's an article from 2019 by the NYT talking about how drug addicts have moved into NY specifically around transit arteries (you can see them around Penn Stn, I have). Penn Stn and Port Authority bus station aren't very far. The bus station is only a few blocks from Times Square.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/16/n...y-opioids.html


So the point is this is a problem in NY, and perhaps it has been exacerbated by the pandemic, but It isn't really a breaking story, that the NYT or other media would probably write an article on it. If it was a whole lot worse, perhaps they should have, they've certainly written articles before such as those above, and problems with drug paraphernalia on subway trains, etc.

suze

"turning into"? As in this is something new? I don't think Time Square was ever known for being pristine, was it?

sf7307

Have you been there lately? It's like an shopping mall and entertainment zone - M&Ms store, used to be an ESPN Zone, used to be a Toys R Us (with an indoor ferries wheel), Disney Store, etc., etc., etc. Here's a link to a list of stores in the Times Square area: https://www.timessquarenyc.org/locations/shopping

J62

I remember in the 70s when Times Sq and the surrounding areas were very seedy. Coming into NYC fro NJ we'd take the Lincoln Tunnel, and occasionally park on the west side and walk down streets like 42nd that were not exactly like they are today...

SusieQQ

I haven't read any recent news about this, but a year ago The New York Times (more reliable than Fox or the Post, IMHO) did an article on the increase of drug use at Penn Station. ", which is also a hot spot for drug sales and the frequent site of overdoses" so, maybe it is true. And yes, Times Square is nothing like its old self...a Disneyland now.

georgeb944

I saw that report in the NY Post.

It was a couple of pictures of one person injecting something at a coffee shop in Times Square.

It could have been insulin, for all I know.

Probably would not categorize it as a drug den.

mlgb

Actually, Disney was a major player in the redevelopment of Times Square in the 1990's, since they wanted to rehab the New Amsterdam Theater. Maybe that's where it comes from (Lion King, etc).

HappyTrvlr

That sounds like Times Square when I was a teen, many years ago.

suze

Have you been there lately?

No. That's why I asked the question... "was it?" And the answer apparently is yes because of it being redeveloped and Disney-fied. Thanks.

stoweflake

Thanks Georgeb944. That's what I was thinking

HappyTrvlr

It used to be dangerous to walk through it with so many drug dealers and users ,porn shops and then it changed with a Disney Store and all. That is what Disneysfying is all about. I still dislike Times Square intensely.

LesleyJK

The post about antidote to Disney made me chuckle!

ekscrunchy

Anywhere that there is a methadone clinic nearby might attract a few drug users who will sell their prescribed methadone for hard drugs. I think there is a McDonalds near Times Square that does attract such users/sellers/buyers/ You have NOTHING to worry about. I walk by there any time and unless you were looking to score drugs, you would never in a million years notice this type of activity.

I saw the open-air injection sites in Switzerland and in Germany and was shocked at first but believe me, the last thing any of those patients want is to be noticed or to draw attention from anyone outside their own circle. Many countries or municipalities allow safe zones where people injecting are monitored by health workers. It's a good thing and again, NO ONE will bother you unless they are asking for small change which could take place anyplace from Paris to Perth. Wish we had more of those safe zones in NYC instead of leaving the McD onald's franchise owners to deal with a severe worldwide health crisis. We used to have somem of those harm reductionsites in Manhattan but not sure if they still exist. Without them, people end up shooting up in public bathrooms or the bathrooms of places like that McDonalds.