Third violent attack shakes green haven
A third shocking attack has unfolded in Central Park in just 27 hours — recalling darker days when the iconic green space was plagued by violent “wildings” and the infamous 1989 rape of a jogger in a case that sent shock waves through the city.
The spate of violent robberies was followed on Saturday by a brazen snatch-and-grab theft, when a tourist sitting on a bench near East 74th Street had a bag with pricey camera equipment, worth $2,000 to $3,000, grabbed by a thief, who ran off, police said.
That comes on the heels of three violent robberies, including an attack Friday night by two armed muggers — who appeared to be just 14 or 15 years old — who accosted a man as he cut through the park Friday night, demanding his iPhone around 10:12 p.m. at 110th Street and East Drive, cops said.
The brave victim escaped by charging at his young attackers, prompting them to run, emptyhanded, police said. He then tripped and hurt his finger.
The would-be robbery followed two other, disturbing incidents: a man held at gunpoint, robbed and assaulted while taking pictures inside the park, and a woman who was set upon by a pervert who grabbed her and demanded, “Give me your phone, give me your wallet, give me sex,” authorities said.
Crime in the park has soared. Robberies are up 400% — with 15 as of April 21, compared to three in the same period a year prior, NYPD data show. The three newest attacks aren’t included in those statistics.
‘It’s unsafe’
Word of the scary incidents has left New Yorkers shaken. A lifelong New Yorker said the city is “already in” the bad old days.
“It’s unsafe,” said the Upper East Sider, 63, who declined to give their name. “We had a good 20 years, under [Mayor Rudy] Giuliani and [Mayor Mike] Bloomberg . . . . Now it’s getting worse and worse every day.
“Even the doormen don’t feel safe, even in our area,” the filmmaker claimed. “You have stores being robbed. It’s unpleasant.”
Steven Bollon and his wife, Caroline, live in Manhattan but are considering moving to Florida, they said, in part because of the crime.
“Since COVID something snapped. There are a lot more incidents,” said Bollon, 60, adding they feel a sense of “uneasiness.”
The spate of crimes unnerved Hermon Daniel, a restaurant hostess who walks through the park to get to and from work.
“That’s really crazy,” said Daniel, 27, who lives on the Upper West Side. “It’s not an affordable area so you would think, if I’m going to spend this much more in rent for peace of mind, it should be safe.”
Police need to spread their presence throughout the park, said Upper East Side resident Debbie Landau, who was walking her dog Saturday.
‘Very disturbing’
“I find it very disturbing,” said Landau, 68, adding the Central Park attacks are reminiscent of the recent spate of cases in which women have been suckerpunched in unprovoked assaults.
“There is a lot of police presence on the Great Lawn, but the Great Lawn is packed, I don’t think that’s where they are needed,” she said.
In the 80s, groups of teenagers were known to go into the park in groups and attack unsuspecting victims as a pack, which became known as “wilding,” with the roving perps stealing from and punching their targets.
“They’d swarm the people and beat them and rob them,” a police source recalled. “The more you resisted, the worse it was.”
The victim earlier Friday taking photos in the park was punched twice in the face as one of the robbers pointed the gun at his head, cops said. They then stole an iPhone 8, an iPhone 13 and his wallet before taking off on mopeds on a bike path.
The set-upon woman, meanwhile, was punched in the face and knocked to the ground during the attack at West 97th Street and West Drive, in which the perp made off with her iPhone 11, authorities said.
It wasn’t clear if any of the attacks were related.