Central Park robbery spree has visitors on edge

New York — A major uptick of muggings in Central Park — including three violent robberies within a 28-hour span — has left parkgoers on edge, wondering if they will be targeted next, visitors to the iconic greenspace said Saturday.

“It’s a little unnerving,” Upper West Side resident Deborah Moralez said about the jump in robberies as she entered the park at 97th Street on a balmy, sun-dappled Saturday afternoon. “I’m a little blown away by it actually.”

Moralez, 69, enjoys taking walks through Central Park on the weekends. Normally, she feels “fairly safe,” she said, but the recent robberies have given her pause.

“It’s very unsettling but it’s not going to stop me from coming into the park,” she said defiantly.

Police have seen a five-fold jump in robberies in Central Park this year, from three last year to 15 as of April 21.

That number doesn’t include the three that happened within 28 hours beginning on Thursday night, when a mugger punched and nearly raped a 28-year-old woman inside the park at West 97th Street, right where Moralez entered Saturday.

The woman was walking through the park at about 7:15 p.m. when her attacker grabbed her from behind, police said. He demanded her phone and wallet, then said he wanted to have sex with her before he punched her, police said.

The woman purposely fell to the ground and curled up, tucking her bag against her body to stop the thief from grabbing it or trying to take off her clothes, police said. The thief ran off with the woman’s phone and the woman was not seriously harmed.