Close eye on park crowds

City officials will limit access to Sheep Meadow in Central Park and patrol beaches to avoid crowding and curb the spread of coronavirus when New Yorkers seek the sun during warm weather this weekend.

Police will cap the number of people who can go to Sheep Meadow, as well as Hudson River Park Piers 45 and 46, and monitor crowding in Domino Park in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Mayor de Blasio said Friday.

“In the parks, we’ve definitely seen some places where overcrowding started to happen,” Hizzoner said at a remote briefing. “We don’t want that to happen. So, in the places where we know we can put physical limitations, we will.”

The NYPD already limited entry to the Hudson River Park piers and Domino Park last weekend after they became dangerously crowded during nice weather earlier this month.

“NYPD officers, civilian ambassadors, they’ll be there, they’ll be there early,” de Blasio said. “They’ll set parameters on how many people should go into these areas and always be providing guidance, be providing free face coverings.”

If this approach works, de Blasio said, “we’ll apply it to any place else we need to.”

This weekend there will also be enhanced park patrols in the Rockaways, Coney Island and Orchard Beach in case New Yorkers try to swim without lifeguards on duty.

The city now has 2,260 “social distancing ambassadors” and supervisors to deploy across the city.

Each NYPD precinct will have a dedicated car to respond to 311 complaints about social distancing and violations of other coronavirus restrictions