When it comes to New York City nothing seems to surprise anyone, as crime rates soar to an all-time new high.
Things have gotten so bad in New York City that drug dealers are brazenly selling what appears to be cocaine, sometimes neatly assembled on sidewalk tables, on Broadway in trendy NoMad and farther north in Times Square.
“Some of the drug-slingers openly solicit, saying, “Weed, coke. Weed, coke” as pedestrians walk by,” a disgusted local restaurateur said.
Two different buyers were seen approaching the dealers on the corner of West 27th Street and Broadway earlier this month, as they handed over cash in exchange for plastic baggies containing a mysterious white substance.
Also in Times Square, a makeshift table with what looked like pre-rolled joints on 41st Street was spotted and the dealer claimed he could also get buyers cocaine if they wanted.
In NoMad, one man wearing an Amazon vest did not even bother hopping off his bike before riding off with the goods on Oct. 7. A few minutes later, another man approached the dealers and walked away with a white substance in a baggie.
“They’re here before we open and when we close,” said Hannah Dolin, an employee at Aubi and Ramsa, which sells alcohol-infused ice cream and is near where the dealers set up shop.
The transactions took place less than 24 hours after three police cars sat near the location the night before.
As of Thursday, the 13th Precinct this year had received 41 narcotics-related 911 calls and another 311 drug-related complaint covering two square blocks flanking Broadway, from West. 27th Street north to West 28th Street and from 5th Avenue west to Sixth Avenue.
Observers said, “The stretch of Broadway as always attracted drug dealers, but over the past year they are becoming more bold, laying out their goods on coffee and folding tables as if they are selling random everyday items.”
One cluster of dealers on the northwest corner of West 27th Street and Broadway relax in chairs in front of one of the empty storefronts, directly across from a matcha tea shop and a popular Sweetgreen eatery.
Three people could be seen sitting outside the eatery and rummaging through a backpack that said “I can do anything” to get their goods. A small folding table displayed bags of what looked like weed and pre-rolled joints.
A police car pulled up in the late afternoon and the crew scattered, grabbing the merchandise off the table.
“It’s like so brazen, I couldn’t believe it,” said one NoMad resident. “I feel like I’m watching an episode of “The Wire” (the award-winning drama series about Baltimore’s out-of-control drug dealers)”
“One dealer, who was just sitting up against the store, had a huge plate of loose marijuana and was packaging it into individual baggies, the resident continued after watching the activity on a Saturday afternoon.
That evening, when the resident saw that the group hadn’t dispersed, he approached a police officer sitting in a patrol car nearby. He said he pointed out the drug dealing and said the cop “just shrugged his shoulders and said ‘What do you want me to do?’ “
“It doesn’t seem like there’s anybody holding anybody accountable. It’s just lawless,” the resident said.
