Police have made 41 arrests for K2 possession on the block of West 25th Street between Sixth and Seventh avenues this year, according to police. View Full Caption DNAInfo/Noah Hurowitz

CHELSEA — More than half of the arrests for synthetic marijuana possession in the 13th Precinct this year have occurred on one block of West 25th Street, and numbers have soared in comparison to 2014, according to police.

Officers in the 13th Precinct have made 41 arrests for possession of K2, as the drug is often called, on West 25th Street between Sixth and Seventh avenues since January, up from just 14 in the same time period last year, a police spokesman said.

The problem on the block has become so bad that the NYPD has assigned extra men to police the area and one business owner joked that so many people were smoking the drug, they could get high off second-hand smoke.

“They sit on the stoop and so much smoke blows inside we’re practically addicted ourselves,” said Victor Mevo, who has operated a vintage store at 120 W. 25th St. for eight years.

Thirty-seven arrests for possession of the drug have taken place in other areas of the precinct, which covers Stuyvesant Town, Gramercy, Union Square, Kips Bay, Murray Hill and part of Chelsea, bringing the total this year to 78, up from 27 arrests last year at this time, Police Officer Charles Sarriera said.

At least three of the men arrested on West 25th Street in the past month were busted directly outside the Bowery Residents Committee, a homeless shelter that has drawn the ire of neighbors who say it brings a down-and-out crowd to the otherwise tony block.

“This block is definitely something of an epicenter of K2 use, at least for this precinct,” said Sarriera of the 13th Precinct crime analyst unit.

Patrols by police have helped tamp down open-air of drug use, but the problem returns as soon as the law is out of sight, according to David Killen, who runs a gallery and auction space near the corner of Sixth Avenue.

“It gets better when officers patrol, but as soon as they’re gone, people come right back and keep smoking,” Killen said.

Most of the arrests stemmed from police either responding to 911 calls or from spotting suspected users openly smoking or carrying joints of synthetic marijuana, and the arrests were spread out throughout the day from early in the morning to late at night, according to police reports.

Synthetic marijuana arrests are a more rare occurrence elsewhere in the precinct, with just three busts taking place off the block of West 25th Street in the past month, according to police reports.

A top official at the BRC shelter said he supports efforts by the city to crack down on the use of synthetic marijuana, which New York state banned in 2012.

“BRC supports the Mayor's efforts to stem the sale of K2, and equally the City Council's efforts to strengthen the laws to more effectively hold accountable those who are selling this drug and taking advantage of people working to overcome their addictions,” said Executive Director Muzzy Rosenblatt in an email.

Last year, the Department of Homeless Services assigned two dozen peace officers to the shelter in response from neighbor complaints, according to Chelsea Now. The peace officers, who may make arrests but do not carry firearms, patrol inside and immediately outside the shelter, leaving the rest of the block to the NYPD, according to Serriera.

Authorities have been cracking down on the use and sale of K2 citywide in recent months, turning their attention to the drug after what officials have described as an uptick in hospital visits related to people smoking it. In April, a particularly potent brand known as “Mr. Bigshot” resulted in 120 hospitalizations, according to the Health Department.

One homeless man hanging out on West 25th Street on a recent afternoon told DNAinfo he has used K2 in the past to self-medicate for post-traumatic stress disorder and bipolar disorder, despite documented cases of the drug’s unpredictable side effects.

“For some people it’s a problem, but for some it helps,” said Randy Rizzo, 31.

Individuals caught carrying or selling synthetic marijuana are generally slapped with violations as possession of the drug is currently a non-criminal offense under state law, according to Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance.