Vickie R., a 25-year-old prostitute and crack addict, has also been attacked by the gangs.

''A month ago, I was coming down the block and I was going to cop and my stem fell out of my purse,'' she said, referring to her crack pipe. ''I picked it up and put it in my purse because I didn't want the kids to see it, but one of the little kids, he seen it. So he come up and he says, 'Ah, look, there goes a crackhead.' Then another one come by on a bike and throws a bottle at me. He tells me, 'You crackheads watch. I'm going to get rid of you.' ''

Eventually, a group of her friends chased the boys away. ''But it was at that point, you know the tension.''

Not only are crack addicts fair game, Vickie said; anyone who looks like an addict is at risk.

''Them kids are disgusted with people that do crack,'' she said. ''Anybody that's skinny and look like a crackhead, they go off. They don't want no crackheads around them. Instead of the parents being the ones to tell the crackheads, 'We don't want you smoking on the block,' it's the little kids.''

Officer Sees Attitudes Change

Police Officer C. Bullock, a fresh-faced 25-year-old who works on the streets of Washington Heights, said he had seen women who are crack addicts and, usually, prostitutes, beaten up by young people. ''They're easy prey,'' he explained, and because of their own criminal activity, are unlikely to report the attacks.

But Officer Bullock said he had definitely seen a change in attitudes about crack, at least in Washington Heights.

''Most kids are against it,'' he said, explaining that they had become only too aware of how dangerous the drug is. ''In this neighborhood, they see it, they hear it, they live it. A lot of people say they don't want those scaly crackheads on the block. They feel they're an eyesore.''

Lieut. Joseph McNulty, who coordinates a police program to teach about drugs in the schools, said the officers who conducted the eight-week courses were also seeing young people turning away from crack. ''We notice that there is a changing attitude,'' Lieutenant McNulty said. Not only are the users older, he said, but fewer teen-agers seem to be starting to use drugs. ''We haven't had an up-to-date survey to verify this, but we feel it anyway,'' he added.