{"id":55583,"date":"2025-11-29T14:49:07","date_gmt":"2025-11-29T14:49:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/55583\/"},"modified":"2025-11-29T14:49:07","modified_gmt":"2025-11-29T14:49:07","slug":"central-park-goers-wary-as-serious-assaults-sex-crimes-skyrocket-in-2025-i-wouldnt-walk-alone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/55583\/","title":{"rendered":"Central Park goers wary as serious assaults, sex crimes skyrocket in 2025: ‘I wouldn’t walk alone’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Serious assaults have soared 58% in Central Park so far in 2025 \u2014 while reports of \u201csex crimes\u201d other than rape have shot up a disturbing 146%, according to NYPD data.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There have been 19 felony assaults recorded in the park so far this year, up from 12 in the same span last year,<\/a> the data show.\u00a0Serious assaults have increased 138% from two years ago and 280% from 15 years ago, according to NYPD data.<\/p>\n

\u201cOther sex crimes\u201d \u2014 which include sexual offenses that are not rapes \u2014 have spiked to 27 incidents so far this year, from 11 in the same period in 2024, the data show.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Felony assaults are up 58 percent in Central Park since last year. Leonardo Munoz<\/p>\n

A 22-year-old New Jersey woman was sitting near West Drive and Center Drive on Sept. 26, talking on a cell phone, when she was approached by stranger \u2014 who began talking to her before suddenly groping her genitals, police said.<\/p>\n

The attacker took off, police said. There have been no arrests.<\/p>\n

In another brazen incident, a woman walking with her husband on West Drive near 72nd Street around 10 p.m. on Aug. 28 was slapped on the rear <\/a>by a stranger who took off on a one-wheeled scooter,<\/p>\n

The skyrocketing incidents have park visitors on high alert.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t walk here alone,\u201d said Vena Watson, 45, who was in the park with her husband.<\/p>\n

Tom Moore, a superintendent at a building near the park, placed the blame for the crime surge on city and state politicians. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been escalating since 2020 because of bulls\u2013t policies like no cash bail, they\u2019re going so lenient on crime and that creates a revolving door of violence,\u201d Moore, 60, told The Post. <\/p>\n

\u201cI have my head on a swivel. . . . I feel scared going out at night.\u201d<\/p>\n

NYC superintendent Thomas Moore blamed the rise in crime on \u201cbulls\u2013t policies.\u201d Leonardo Munoz<\/p>\n

In one Aug. 25 assault spree, a crazed homeless man randomly assaulted two people in separate incidents, choking them and biting one victim\u2019s ear in the iconic green space.<\/p>\n

David Luciano approached an 18-year-old man around 1:20 a.m. on the West Drive at 62nd Street, police said. The maniac was accused of choking, punching and kicking the teen<\/a> before fleeing, authorities said in a criminal complaint.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The loon then headed north and attacked a 37-year-old man on the West Drive at 93rd Street a half hour later, police said. He choked the second victim before throwing him to the ground and chowing down on his ear, authorities said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Other sex crimes are up nearly 146 percent. Leonardo Munoz<\/p>\n

Luciano, 27, was arrested an hour after the attacks and charged with two counts assault and criminal obstruction of breathing, police said.\u00a0 He was taken to a hospital for a psychiatric evaluation.<\/p>\n

The charges were not bail eligible, and Luciano failed to appear for an Oct. 23 court date.<\/p>\n

Lifelong New Yorker Tony Martinez said he and others have noticed the crime increase.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t tell anyone who\u2019s vulnerable, who\u2019s not able to stand their ground to go out at night,\u201d Martinez, 53, said. \u201dI\u2019ve heard of people just getting knocked down.\u201d<\/p>\n

A 51-year-old woman who was walking in the park was assaulted and robbed around 2:30 p.m. on Nov. 5 when two people who were riding a foldable e-bike came up from behind, struck her in the head and snatched her headphones, police said.<\/p>\n

Tony Martinez said that he wouldn\u2019t recommend anybody \u201cvulnerable\u201d to frequent the park at night. Leonardo Munoz<\/p>\n

She tracked the headphones to Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard in Harlem. There were no arrests.<\/p>\n

Husband and wife Laurie and Ross McDonagh, both 34, were visiting the Big Apple from England.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m worried about crime,\u201d the wife said. \u201cIt\u2019s quite scary at night. I wouldn\u2019t walk around alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

They\u2019ve seen a number of emotionally disturbed people, she added.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve seen people talking to themselves on the street,\u201d she said. \u201cYou have to have your wits about you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Overall crime in the park is down 22.1% so far in 2025 as compared to the same time period in 2024, a police spokesman said, adding that 40% of the \u201cother sex crimes\u201d were for public lewdness. <\/p>\n

British couple Lauri and Ross McDonagh say they\u2019ve witnessed people with mental health problems talking to themselves on the street. Leonardo Munoz<\/p>\n

Half of the 19 felony assaults resulted in arrests, he added, vowing that the NYPD would continue to take measures to decrease crime further.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Central Park Precinct is expanding their Q-Teams which will drive crime further down and continue to make New Yorkers feel safe in Central Park,\u201d the spokesman said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Serious assaults have soared 58% in Central Park so far in 2025 \u2014 while reports of \u201csex crimes\u201d…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":55584,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[211,4709,57,9,56,63,65,64,103,11853,58],"class_list":{"0":"post-55583","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-city","8":"tag-assault","9":"tag-central-park","10":"tag-metro","11":"tag-new-york","12":"tag-ny","13":"tag-nyc","14":"tag-nyc-headlines","15":"tag-nyc-news","16":"tag-nypd","17":"tag-sex-crimes","18":"tag-us-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55583","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55583"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55583\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55584"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55583"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55583"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55583"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}