Robberies, assaults surge in Central Park, leaving New Yorkers and NYC tourists terrified: ‘Never felt this unsafe’
Robberies and assaults are skyrocketing in Central Park, leaving tourists and lifelong New Yorkers on edge thanks to a troubling mix of violent teens, unhinged vagrants and lawless migrants roaming the troubled green space.
There’s been a 222% spike in the number of robberies so far in 2024, compared to the same point in 2023, NYPD data show.
This year’s 29 incidents already surpasses the total number reported in 2019, according to the data.
Felonious assaults have jumped 100%, doubling from five to 10, and are up from seven in all of 2019, according to the data.
“I’ve started waiting to come in here later because when I come in here too early. I see a lot of people who, unfortunately, have mental health issues, and they’re screaming,” said Upper East Side resident Kirsten Edwards — who now waits until later in the day to take her dog for a walk because the early morning seems more dangerous.
“Frankly, I’ve never felt this unsafe in Central Park.”
Major crimes in the park overall are up 49% — from 47 to 70. And there have been two rapes reported in the park this year, compared to none during the same period last year, the data show.
In one Aug. 1 incident reminiscent of the “wilding” of the 1980s, a gang of up to 20 people, some believed to be as young as 8, surrounded and robbed 37-year-old software developer Julian De Flandres as he sat on a bench near Wollman Rink.
Other recent robberies and assaults include:
- A 21-year-old man robbed while sitting on a park bench at West 59th Street and Center Drive on July 8, when a stranger snatched his phone and $80 and demanded, “Put in your password,” police said.
- An 83-year-old man taking photos inside the park around 3 p.m. on May 23 at 94 West Drive had his camera snatched by a thief who then ran away with it.
- Ashikur Chowdhury, 25, made The Post’s front page when he charged at two teens — one armed with a gun — who threatened to shoot him for his cell phone as he walked through the park on his way home to Harlem on April 26. The teens fled.
- A hate-spewing Citi Bike rider slugged 70-year-old Allan Ripp, calling him a “f—king Jew pig” and threatening to kill him on July 13 around 6 p.m. along West Drive near the West 97th Street Transverse.
- A woman was sexually assaulted on April 25 by a pervert who grabbed her and demanded, “Give me your phone, give me your wallet, give me sex,” authorities said.
The rising crime is upending daily routines followed for decades.
“I stay where I am close to the road and [where] other people can hear me. It’s a bummer because I never used to have to worry about safety,” said Upper West Side opera singer Alyson Cambridge, 45, who’s been running in the park for nearly 30 years.
She avoids dark and empty paths, Cambridge said.
“I’m always looking over my shoulder,” she added. “If I’m running and have my earbuds in, if I see a shadow I jump. It sucks.”
Some of the problems stem from at least one nearby migrant shelter, said a 57-year-old woman, referring to the 600-room Watson Hotel on West 57th Street, which was converted to a migrant shelter in November of 2022. That area — the NYPD’s Midtown North Precinct — has seen a 96% jump in robberies and a 60% rise in felony assaults, city data shows.
“We’re in close proximity to the worsening conditions of West 57th Street,” she said. “So it doesn’t surprise me that there’s more crime moving in here as well.”
A 61-year-old investment banker who identified himself as John said he has been using the park for a decade and has noticed a larger police presence recently, with NYPD vans parked near and a giant light shining on the Great Lawn at night.
“An officer recently told my wife ‘Don’t go in the park alone,'” he said. “I don’t ever let her go in the park alone at night but they were saying even during the day she should be with somebody. It’s freaky. It’s unsettling.”
And it’s changed the park-going experience, visitors said.
“My head is definitely on a swivel in here all the time. You have to protect yourself,” said an actor who lives on the Upper West Side and declined to give his name because he feared retribution for his views. “I think you really have to stop a lot of the progressive laws that are in place right now that are really bad.”
SoHo nanny Alexa Makuch sought therapy after getting flashed by a random sicko in broad daylight in the Strawberry Fields section of Central Park.
Makuch, 25, had been picnicking with another friend on July 14 when the man came up and disrobed in front of them, she said.
The stunned pair pulled out their phones to record the man, and yelled, “We’re recording you!” before he pulled up his pants and ran away.
“In Central Park, you definitely feel like it’s supposed to be an oasis — that’s the whole point of it, and I feel a little bit like that feeling was taken away from me since this happened,” Makuch added. “It’s sad.”
Tourist Tiger Ashtiani of Los Angeles won’t be going back to the park any time soon.
“I’m honestly scared to go to Central Park, which is sad, but when I went I noticed lots of, like, disheveled-looking people around and people sleeping in tents in some parts and it didn’t feel totally safe,” said Ashtiani, 24. “I also feel like there’s lots of corners and hidden areas where bad people could be hiding.
“I wear nice jewelry and would rather not have it be stolen…I come to New York to have a good time, not a scary time,” he added.
Conor Wright, who was visiting the Big Apple from Seattle this week, said the crime surge in the landmarked space was “frightening and disturbing.”
“I wasn’t expecting crime to happen here — just the bad neighborhoods people had warned me about…It’s crazy that it’s even happening here in Central Park, which you’d think would be safe,” said Wright.
Crimes in the famed park are “magnified,” and major ones could have a huge impact on tourism in the city, said John Jay Prof. Eugene O’Donnell.
“If you’re the mayor this is the kind of an issue that you should be on high alert about,” O’Donnell said.
Robberies and assaults are often underreported nationally, O’Donnell added, speculating that the actual number of incidents in Central Park is probably higher.
“My guess is people’s instincts are to not report crime at this point,” he said.
Lefty criminal justice reforms such as changes to bail laws have resulted in more people on the street who would have been behind bars or under law enforcement monitoring five years ago, noted O’Donnell, a former Brooklyn and Queens prosecutor.
“You’ve got a lot of people at large who, 10 years ago, would not be at large for various reasons, and they’re out there, and we continue to pretend that does not have an impact on public safety,” he said.
The NYPD said the department has deployed more officers throughout Central Park to combat the current crime trends, and that it “continues to explore innovative methods and new technologies” such as deploying drones and more cameras.
“The safety and security of all New Yorkers, including those that visit Central Park, is of paramount concern for the men and women of the New York City Police Department,” the spokesperson said.
