Nine people were cuffed for allegedly selling psychedelic psilocybin mushrooms and cocaine near Washington Square Park.
Over the past six weeks, New York City Police Department’s (NYPD) Narcotics Borough Manhattan South arrested Brooklyn residents Jordan Gill, 26, and Omalley Harris, 25; Bronx residents Nazzir Washington, 20, Victor Whaley, 33, Joshua Dunlap, 39, and James Cooney, 21; Queens resident Elisha Roger, 21; Manhattan resident Kimberly Scales, 44; and Hempstead resident Donald Mack, 33. They were each brought in on charges of criminal sale of a controlled substance.
“The aim of this investigation, which was initiated in response to community complaints about rampant drug dealing in Washington Square Park, is to ensure that this public recreational space can be enjoyed in the way it’s intended to be, and those who live in the surrounding area can feel comfortable in their neighborhood,” Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget G. Brennan said.
The investigation, which began in July 2023, allegedly uncovered that the majority of the defendants were associated with a loosely affiliated street crew, taking afternoon and evening shifts to sell psilocybin mushrooms, cocaine and crack cocaine. The defendants allegedly made more than a dozen sales to undercover officers.
Seven of the defendants have been charged in separate indictments filed by the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor and were arraigned in Manhattan Supreme Court. Dunlap and Cooney are charged in criminal complaints.
“Enhancing the quality of life in every New York City neighborhood is integral to the NYPD’s public safety mission, a fact understood by the regular visitors of Washington Square Park who refused to allow this beautiful open space to become an open-air drug market. These arrests represent the reclaiming of a historic area that has long provided New Yorkers a respite from the hustle and bustle of the city. I commend our NYPD investigators, and everyone involved at the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor, for their dedication to this important case,” said NYPD Commissioner Edward A. Caban.
