Uptown Is No. 1 In Manhattan For Marijuana Arrests: Comptroller

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS-INWOOD, NY — More people have been arrested in Washington Heights and Inwood for marijuana offenses than any other neighborhood in Manhattan this decade, according to a study published this week by New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer.

Since 2010, 11,849 marijuana-related arrests were made in the uptown neighborhoods for a rate of 687 arrests per 100,000 people, Stringer's study found. The arrest rate was the fourth highest citywide, behind just the Brownsville, East New York, Grand Concourse and Highbridge neighborhoods.

Stringer's report also found that a majority of people arrested this decade for marijuana are people of color. About 51 percent of people arrested for marijuana since 2010 are black and 35 percent are Latinx, according to the report.

The comptroller conducted the study to analyze which communities in New York City should benefit if and when marijuana is legalized for recreational use.

"As New York joins neighboring jurisdictions in moving closer to legalizing cannabis for adult use, the State and the City must take action to ensure that the communities who have been most harmed by policies of the past are able to access the revenue, jobs, and opportunities that a regulated adult-use marijuana program would inevitably generate," Stringer's report reads.

Here are the 10 neighborhoods with the highest and lowest marijuana arrest rates:

Highest:

1. Brownsville & Ocean Hill (Brooklyn)
2. East New York & Starrett City (Brooklyn)
3. Concourse, Highbridge & Mount Eden (Bronx)
4. Washington Heights, Inwood & Marble Hill (Manhattan)
5. East Harlem (Manhattan)
6. Belmont, Crotona Park East & East Tremont (Bronx)
7. Bedford Park, Fordham North & Norwood (Bronx)
8. Morris Heights, Fordham South & Mount Hope (Bronx)
9. Hamilton Heights, Manhattanville & West Harlem (Manhattan)
10. Crown Heights South, Prospect Lefferts & Wingate (Brooklyn)

Lowest:

1. Forest Hills & Rego Park (Queens)
2. Borough Park, Kensington & Ocean Parkway (Brooklyn)
3. Upper East Side (Manhattan)
4. Tottenville, Great Kills & Annadale (Staten Island)
5. Bensonhurst & Bath Beach (Brooklyn)
6. Bayside, Douglaston & Little Neck (Queens)
7. New Springville & South Beach (Staten Island)
8. Flushing, Murray Hill & Whitestone (Queens)
9. Sheepshead Bay, Gerritsen Beach & Homecrest (Brooklyn)
10. Richmond Hill & Woodhaven (Queens)

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