ALLEY OOP! A stretch of the park long called “Methadone Alley” is again a peaceful urban oasis. (Ben Parker)
Police have brought law and order back to Manhattan’s Union Square Park.
A month after cops drew up a battle plan to attack crime and quality-of-life type offenses in the picturesque urban oasis, the enforcement effort appears to be paying off.
On a bench-lined stretch that locals call “Methadone Alley” — where inhabitants have been seen nodding off after visiting nearby methadone clinics — there are now were squirrels and women pushing strollers in the shadow of an NYPD mobile command center, parked on Union Square East.
A camera perched atop tht command center keeps a watchful eye on the park.
As first reported in The Post last month, the police crackdown was prompted by a spike in crime ranging from thefts at the playground to a stabbing, which was deemed a possible hate crime. There were drug overdoses and even a case in which a man was arrested after he was caught exposing himself in the women’s bathroom.
Police have since added ’round-the-clock, plainclothes narcotics officers, as well as stepped up patrols to address quality-of-life issues. The park’s private partnership also has hired two uniformed NYPD officers to patrol the park, along with the city Parks Department’s uniformed Police Enforcement Police.
Drug arrests inside the park and its perimeter had nearly tripled, this year, with 65 drug arrests compared to 24 over the same period last year, police said.
Arrests for infractions inside the park also had jumped from 30 last year to 98, a police spokeswoman said.
Summons for public drinking more than tripled, too, with cops dolling out 99 summonses since January, the NYPD said.
“We’ve increased our enforcement in the park, and we are continuing the deployment of officers in and around the park to address quality of life issues,” an NYPD spokeswoman said.
“The number of arrests are off-the charts,” said Geoffrey Croft, president of NYC Park Advocates, who just last month called the park a “lawless city within a city.”
“There have been more arrests in Union Square Park than all other parks combined,” Croft said. “The key will be to maintain a similar level of attention.”
Croft, whose organization tracks crime in parks, said NYC Parks Enforcement Officers officers have issued 125 summonses in the park between April and May, including 74 summonses for open containers of alcohol.
The NYC Parks Department could not provide the number of summonses issued by their enforcement officers.
“I do think it’s much better than before. There was always people on drugs sitting here,” said park regular Helga Heger, sitting on a bench in “Methadone Alley” on a recent afternoon.
“I think it’s more comfortable. I was wondering where are they, the regulars,” she said with a chuckle. “[The police] did a good job, I have to say that.”