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Rowdy teens dubbed as 'bane of the block' stop terrorizing Greenwich Village residents after being exposed

A resident said, 'our block was overrun by unruly, teens at lunchtime, and we had no one to help us' but now 'the problem magically disappeared'

BY SRINIJA GRANDHI

PUBLISHED OCT 16, 2022

Greenwich residents were fed up with the high schoolers turning their block into their spot for chilling after cutting classes (greenwichvillage.nyc/ Website)

GREENWICH VILLAGE, NEW YORK CITY: A foul-mouthed, toy gun-toting high school rowdy boy gang stopped terrorizing the residents of Greenwich Village, New York Post reports. In a report last month, outraged residents labeled the rowdy gang as the "bane of the block."

The high school troublemaking teenagers have been roaming around every day at lunchtime while school is in session for at least a year, getting high, acting out, and tormenting anyone who gets in their way. The delinquents were seen carrying fake guns that looked like real ones and firing them at terrified bystanders. The fake TEC-9 semi-automatic pistol was cited by neighbors as an impending tragedy.

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As MEAWW reported earlier, the rowdy boys were tracked all the way back to the Harvest Collegiate High School on West 14th Street. The group, according to Figueroa, superintendent for two buildings, is opportunistic and given the neighborhood's many ongoing home renovations. He said, "If they see a door open [they go in to smoke their weed]. I see them constantly. It’s the same guys, it’s the same crew."

According to retired attorney Cheryl Schwartzman, "This is their lunchroom and they will use this as their lunchroom until June." She recalled how one of the teenagers once told her, "Suck my d**k!" and spat all over her stoop when she asked them to move so she could enter the building. She added, "My frustration is that this is an ongoing problem and no one is here when the teens congregate." Schwartzman unsuccessfully called the 6th Precinct and 911. She claimed that although Harvest Collegiate High School administration has been informed of the ongoing issue by local police, the principal has not yet taken any action.

The 6th Precinct, which includes the hip neighborhoods of the West Village and Greenwich Village as well as Washington Square Park is experiencing a significant increase in crime, according to the most recent NYPD statistics. This increase is being fueled in part by shoplifting and grand larcenies. The 6th of the 77 NYPD precincts saw the biggest increase in felony crimes over the same time period in 2021, at 80.2%, as per CBS news.

The situation became better after the New York Post exposed the hooligans in a report on October 1. Cheryl claimed, Since then, the teenagers have not been seen. "Our block was overrun by unruly, scary teens at lunchtime, and we had no one to help us: Not the police, not our absentee super, not the block association. The problem magically and suddenly disappeared."