By Gus Saltonstall
A 21-year-old woman was sunbathing around 1:30 p.m. on Monday at the Great Hill section of Central Park near West 104th Street and West Drive, when she looked up to see a man with his shorts down running at her, NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell told a press conference in the park this evening.
The woman screamed, jumped up, and attempted to run from the man, but he tackled her from behind, Chief Chell said.
“She was able to fight the man off, and he ran away southbound,” the chief added. The woman was taken to a nearby hospital.
NYPD has mobilized a search team in the park and surrounding area. The suspect, who police describe as “in his 30s, Black, around 6-feet tall, with a medium build and curly hair, wearing a light-colored shirt and shorts,” has not been caught as of 11 a.m. on Tuesday.
“This is one of the most iconic locations in the world,” NYPD Public Information Deputy Commissioner Tarik Sheppard said at the press conference. “We’re talking about Central Park. There’s an expectation to keep this place safe. And that’s exactly what we intend to do. We had an incident that took place today, but we assure you, we are going to keep Central Park safe.”
Chief of Patrol Chell, who provided the details of the attack, added — “Right now we’re searching every part of this park for witnesses or any evidence [we] might find.”
Watch as NYPD executives provide an update on an ongoing investigation in Manhattan. https://t.co/2FnOvon27p
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) June 24, 2024
This is a developing story, please check back in for updates.
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Good luck with that. There will be more police from the CP precinct for a few days then back to the usual. Barely see any police in the park. Do they cover areas outside of CP? There sure seems to be a lot of cars at the precinct and parked on the bridal path. Not sure where the police are?
The Central Park Precinct Community Council meeting is on Wed 6/26 at 7:30pm at the precinct house on the 86th St. transverse.
I think you might mean the Bridle Path. It was originally intended for horses, not weddings :-).
I actually see them quite a bit. Day and night. But certainly they’re not everywhere always.
Robberies aka muggings in CP are also up 250% compared to YTD 2023, 21 vs 6 .
We need HD cameras everywhere.
Why? So we can have high quality video of people being attacked by criminals? I don’t think that I could even justify going up to a woman sunbathing all by herself to try and say ‘hello’ to her without thinking that I was invading her privacy. This guy pulled his pants down before he started running over to her. A high quality video would only show the entire heinous act, if he had been successful.
You need everyone to obey the laws, or at the least be very conscious of the fact that breaking the law in this extreme way is going to bring down serious hurt and consequences on them. He wouldn’t have tried this in the Sheep Meadow because he implicitly knows that there is either going to be a greater chance of a cop being there and/or some guys might pounce on top of him as soon as they hear her screaming.
NO! what we need is LAW AND ORDER!!! We need punishment back! If there is solid punishment for crime, one will think twice before committing it. No strings race, nationality and whatever attached. Committing crime, any crime pay the price accordingly. Additionally we need self defense tools including fire arms!!! Period!
The north end of the park has become a little scary over the last few years. Once the morning dog owners leave, the Great Hill area can be deserted, and forget about the North Woods later in the day. Last time I walked in that area I spotted a group of youths and quickly turned and walked out of there. Not worth pushing your luck, especially if you’re a lone female.
Oh, no! Not a ‘group of youths’!
Unfortunately Nat is right to trust his/her gut. I love the northern areas of the park – the Pool, the Ravine and North Woods are low in tourists and feel much more natural than the south. But the woodier it is, the less safe I feel – and it’s been that way a long time.
Several years ago – the day Princess Diana died, in fact – I went to the northern part of the park to break in some new hiking boots. It was a Sunday morning, full daylight about 8 or 9am. I remember passing a couple of young men and thinking nothing of it.
While walking on the Great Hill, a woman with her dog told me to watch out, there were two men following me. She spoke mostly Spanish but from what I understood and her hand gestures, she was trying to tell me one of them had a gun. I was young and naive and didn’t want to jump to conclusions about people who looked different than me. I thought she was imagining things and kept on about my hike. But a short time later, I saw them again and stopped. They were indeed following me, I could tell by their reaction.
I got the hell out of there, found a police officer on the 102nd street crossing (there is often a patrol car there) and told him what happened. He told me I was right to trust my instincts. For the first time in my life I had a visceral feeling of the vulnerability many women surely feel.
Of course this is a nothingburger compared to the 70s and this article. But I’ve been to northern Central Park many times since, and I just wont go in any of the heavily wooded areas by myself, even in daylight, unless there are many people around. Too many sights of shady people. Sorry, but better safe.
I was trying to describe the situation in a polite kinda way.
Thank you as always WSR. Your local reporting is second to none and a special service to us all up here. 💕
I am adding my Central Park experience report here. Last Saturday, soon after sunset, I was almost run over by a group of young male bikers in the boulevard south of 72nd Street. These riders can creep up from behind without making any sound, enjoying intimidating single pedestrians. When I turned around, many bikers were about to pass right next to me instead of through the empty space of the wide road. They looked like a different tribe that I had never seen before.
Not sure if they speak Spanish, or maybe they were practicing some pro-Palestine movement.
Tribe? Spanish or Pro-Palestine movement? Those have gone far beyond micro-aggressions and are frankly racist statements.
Thanks to the police for FINALLY reporting the race of an on-the-run suspect—it has only taken years of reader comments angry that they refuse to identify the race of someone we’re supposed to be on the lookout for (unless of course he’s white when it’s in the headline and repeated at least twice).
Just crossed relaxing in Central Park in quiet and less trafficked areas off my list. Counting down the days until we can consider moving. I’m tired of feeling unsafe.
I am always fascinated by commenters who feel the need to announce their intentions to give up on New York. Just do it. Go already. The rest of us will get to work solving our problems and enjoying our city.
Douglas – after having spent over 31 years on the UWS, I did. Am not looking back, either!
CP precinct is absolutely useless. Has been for years. They allow drug use in the park, weekly wild parties with alcohol and drums. The Ramble is covered in used condoms. Illegal vendors everywhere, which results in plastic cups discarded in the woods. Bicycles in pedestrian paths and harassing pedestrians. Now rape. It starts small, but then if the police don’t do anything, it will end with rape and murder. Look where we are on that spectrum.
Broad daylight. Shameful. If he’s caught, the charges will be knocked down to “menacing” at best. He will then be let out to walk the streets until he successfully rapes someone. Of course, bail reform apologists will continue to defend this failed policy.