The Menace of Summertime Saturday Night on Ludlow Street

With comfort levels of close-quarters partying seemingly back to pre-pandemic norms, Hell Square has rebounded in kind. Neighbors report that any quality-of-life progress gained in this sixteen square-block sector over the last few years completely evaporated.

The hordes of hellraisers were out in full force again this past Saturday night. One week after a roving DJ set up an amplified boombox cart outside Hair of the Dog on Orchard Street, something similar happened around the corner at Ludlow and Stanton Streets.

By neighbors’ accounts, the ear-splitting began at 3:00am and lasted until dawn Sunday morning. Hundreds showed up to the event. Cops did respond, but residents felt the patrol insufficient. Six officers, including a Sergeant, emerged from an SUV shortly after 4:00am, yet purportedly didn’t move to break up the madness until more than a half-hour later.

“As working people and long time residents of Stanton and Ludlow Streets we’re seeing our neighborhood abandoned by local authorities, including the NYPD, and turned over nightly to lawless, mindless mobs of partiers,” a Ludlow resident told us in an email.

“Hell Square was already unbearable pre-Covid,” LES Dwellers’ Diem Boyd said in a statement. “Now, it is complete chaos and lawlessness. If this is allowed to continue, this is going to end badly, likely in violence.”

As a reminder, there are roughly 103 state-issued licenses beer, wine, and/or full liquor in this tiny party zone stretching from East Houston to Delancey and Allen to Essex.