By Sophia Astor
Barrelling through crowds performing their kick flips, heel flips, ollies and slides, Washington Square Park skateboarders are either a minor attraction or major scourge depending on who you talk to. The skaters, often accompanied by a friend capturing their radical moves on video, have become internet stars for a certain segment of New York youth. They’ve also been subjects of hundreds of complaints from a certain, shall we say, older demographic.
Now, since Mayor Eric Adams took office in January, skaters have noticed an increased police presence and they fear their days in the park may be numbered. During the campaign, Adams described Washington Square Park as a place where, “people are injecting themselves with drugs, while babies are trying to play,” according to the New York Times. So the move is not particularly surprising.
“A lot of people who skate at Wash come from difficult backgrounds, and the park was our safe space,” said Mars Gonchar, a 17-year-old with ashy blond hair and heavy white eyeliner. “It was a place where we could get away, but watching it transition into such an overpoliced spot is taking that away.”
Gonchar, who lives in the Bronx, feels law enforcement only responds to the concerns of affluent West Village residents and doesn’t care about the skaters and performers who make the park special.
Sheryl Woodruff, the deputy director of the Washington Square Park Conservancy, said the crackdown has been a long time coming.
“WSPC regularly hears concerns from community members about skateboarding in the Park,” Woodruff said “We get emails, phone calls, and people approaching us in person to tell us that they’re worried about their safety.”
The conservancy does not have the authority to regulate skating, but the parks department has fenced off popular skating areas like stairs and ledges.
Police declined repeated requests for comment, but a spokesperson told the Village Sun in 2021 that the department plans to enforce the no skating rule by first educating park-goers, then eventually fining and potentially arresting those who break it.
None of the skaters interviewed have yet been arrested or ticketed but 18-year-old Daniel Galicia, a Bushwick skater with a mop of curly hair and very baggy jeans, said enforcement tactics have gotten aggressive at times and angered skaters, deepening the divide instead of providing a productive solution.
“Park rangers would come all the time and kinda harass us for skateboarding,” said Galicia. “I remember kids getting basically jumped by the park rangers just for skating.”
Skater Henry Coleman, a shaggy-haired 19-year-old from the East Village, says concerns about safety are valid, but it’s also what makes the park what it is.
“I remember how much fun the park was when there was less police presence, and it’s kind of messed up,” said Coleman. “Wash is famous for all the weird stuff that happens there. If cops are trying to enforce all these rules it loses its spark.”
