The area near McCarthy Square, a small patch of green space at the corner of 7th Avenue and Charles Street in the West Village, has become an epicenter of drug abuse for down-on-the-luck individuals openly injecting themselves with opioids, and local residents say few people are doing anything to stop it.
McCarthy Square has seen a surge of individuals spread out on the sidewalk, some with needles jutting out of their arms. Others hunker down near the square alongside buildings where they take up shelter as neighbors pass them by on the street.
The square rests at an intersection of heartbreak in Manhattan — with local residents and business owners concerned about the rise in drug abuse in the area on one side, and the drug users who say they are suffering in plain sight on the other.
“I have been here for 26 years, and this summer is the worst I have ever seen it,” said Rick Pannell, owner of the nearby Snip N Sip barber shop. “You’re seeing people, sprawled out, passed out. They look like they’re dead. People just walk around them. Police might come wake them up, tell them to put their pants on, then they’re on their way.”
Pannell stated that the quality of life in the area has drastically dropped for himself and his customers, explaining that the sight of strewn needles has become a daily occurrence.
“I have seen it all, you name it. People defecating on a regular basis, and fights. I mean, it’s constant junkies. The area is full of needles, needles in my tree,” Pannell said. “This block is pretty bad.”
While business owners are at their wits’ end with public drug use, those shooting up say they are having a much worse time.
Thirty-six-year-old Danielle often sits in McCarthy Square making an illegal concoction that she then injects into her veins. She showed amNewYork the process of melting down the small white rocks before placing them in a hypodermic needle.
She says, however, she is not proud of her addiction.
“If I can help stop someone else from getting addicted, I would love that,” she said. “It’s not easy. You think I want to get up and put a needle in my arm?”
Danielle hails from Virginia and says she has been addicted to drugs since she was 15 years old. She has two children — seven and 13 — with whom, she hopes, she will one day be clean enough to reunite. Her boyfriend is currently incarcerated, and she lost her best friend years prior to a deadly overdose.
Still, she uses. Tears streamed down her face as she strapped a blue tourniquet to her arm and injected the substance into her body, sending blood spilling and drool dripping from her lips.
“I’m down to one time a day now, I am doing it for my kids. Let me tell you something, it’s not easy,” Danielle said. “It’s hard kicking dope. My nose is running. Look at me. It’s no joke.”
Danielle broke down into tears multiple times throughout the conversation, telling amNewYork that she feels she is treated subhumanely by the community she has chosen to call home. But she is not the only one. Throughout the investigation, several down-on-their-luck individuals could be spotted hunkered down in nooks and crannies.
What’s being done to help?
According to NYPD sources, drug arrests in the confines of the 6th Precinct, within which McCarthy Square is located, have risen by 53%, with 563 people being arrested for narcotics so far in 2025 compared to 368 in 2024. However, other issues that are commonly associated with drug use, such as retail theft, have fallen by 22%.
The 6th Precinct has seen 807 complaints of shoplifting so far in 2025 compared to 1033 in 2024.
The Department of Homeless Services (DHS) responded by stating that outreach workers canvas the city 24/7 and have been successful in connecting those in need to shelters. A spokesperson for the agency said that workers are “committed to keep going back to this area to ensure that New Yorkers in need are connected to supports and we are addressing any community concerns as they arise.”
The DHS, however, did not provide specifics as to what it has done previously at McCarthy Square prior to our publication deadline Tuesday.
“Across all five boroughs, outreach teams operated by DHS and our not-for-profit providers canvas the streets and subways 24 hours a day, seven days a week, engaging New Yorkers experiencing unsheltered homelessness, building trust, and encouraging them to come inside and accept services. As a result of unprecedented investments by the Adams administration, DHS has bolstered supports for our unsheltered neighbors, intensifying outreach efforts and opened over 1,600 new specialized shelter beds to serve this especially vulnerable population. These measures have helped us move more folks into shelter and, subsequently, into permanent housing,” a DHS spokesperson said. “Last year alone, nearly 1,200 New Yorkers – people who were previously living on the streets and subways – were connected to stable permanent homes from specialized beds, and as we bring even more such beds online, we look forward to building on this impressive progress. DHS also works closely with our agency partners to address quality of life concerns across communities, and we are always responsive to requests for assistance from this neighborhood.”
Another local business owner, Brian Beach, works at Pink Olive West Village and says he hasn’t seen any evidence of help offered to those using drugs in the area, adding that intoxicated individuals often meander into his store.
“I had one guy come in with his pants down, and he was trying to light a cigarette with the candle. And then he was trying to pay with a piece of paper. It was f*king crazy,” Beach said. “It got worse after COVID, that’s when I noticed it a lot.”
Beach added that he would like to see those doing the drugs receive help and a place in the shelter system, although he feels their dependence on the narcotics prevents them from being able to receive it.
