By Michael V. Cusenza
The numbers are in…and for the second time in three months, they’re not good for City green spaces.
Crime in NYC parks soared 32 percent over the last nine months compared to the same time in 2015 – 955 reported crimes in 2016; compared to 721 in 2015 over the same nine-month period – according to the latest analysis by the leading Big Apple parks watchdog group.
Geoffrey Croft and the NYC Park Advocates last Thursday noted that violent offenses, in particular, jumped 19 percent over the same period, with 502 people reporting being the victim of violent crime in a Gotham green space during the first three quarters of 2016.
Murder (33 percent), rape (17), robbery (29), and felonious assault (6) have all increased, according to NYCPA.
Croft called the figures, which cover through Sept. 31, 2016, “striking.”
“The de Blasio administration continues to maintain that park crime is ‘rare,’” he added.
Flushing Meadows Corona Park once again leads the way with 68 total reported crimes. The massive Queens green space also led all parks with seven felonious assaults.
In October, Croft released his analysis of crime in City Parks during the period of July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2016 – and the numbers were just as disconcerting. Violent crime in parks and recreational facilities has recently become an urgent issue, with reported offenses jumping 25 percent during the aforementioned 12-month period of study. And Flushing Meadows found itself at the top of several dubious lists, according to Croft’s October analysis: the 897-acre green space has clocked the most felony assaults, robberies, burglaries, and car thefts of all Big Apple parks July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2016.
Last March, State Sen. Jose Peralta (D-East Elmhurst), U.S. Rep. Joe Crowley (D-Queens and Bronx), Assemblyman Francisco Moya (D-Jackson Heights) sent letters to Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio, encouraging them to support funding for the construction of a 110th Precinct Satellite Station in FMCP.
“For several years, neighbors and park-goers have been complaining about an uptick in crime and gang activity in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. This park is our particular jewel, but if we don’t put the necessary resources into place to keep it safe, we are going to end up losing it,” Peralta told The Forum in October. “The statistics in the report are frightening, and the public’s perception that the park is a safe place can be derailed. This park is the home of Citi Field, the New York Hall of Science, the U.S. Open, the Queens Museum and more. I think it is time to make my proposal to build a police substation in the park a reality, especially from a logistics perspective, considering that police response time form the 110th Police Precinct to the park is at least ten minutes without traffic. Delays in responding to emergencies can put residents and visitors in harm’s way.”
Croft has indicated that he feels that the City is not affording its own green spaces the attention they require.
“Protecting parks is simply not a priority,” Croft said of the de Blasio administration in October.
Courtesy of NYC Park Advocates
