A Walk in the Park: Park Crime: 541 People Victims Of Violent Crimes Over Twelve Month Period

Violent Spaces. Five hundred and thirteen people were robbed or assaulted in city parks over the last twelve months. Another 21 people were raped or murdered. There were 991 reported park crimes in total. The NYPD is now compiling crime data from 1,155 park properties, up from 31 parks. (Photo: Geoffrey Croft/NYC Park Advocates) Click on images to enlarge

City-Wide

By Geoffrey Croft

More than 540 people were victims of violent crimes in city parks over the last twelve months NYC Park Advocates has learned.

Seven people were murdered, 14 were raped, 313 people were robbed, and 195 were victims of felony assaults. A total of 912 crimes were reported in the seven Major Crime Complaints category according to the latest city-wide park crime figures compiled by the NYPD and analyzed by NYC Park Advocates.

The statistics cover a twelve month period from October 1, 2014 through September 30, 2015.

The newly released figures do not include reported crimes in Central Park which are recorded under its own patrol precinct. Central Park reported two rapes, 27 robberies, four felony assaults among the 79 recorded crimes during the same twelve month period. When Central Park figures are combined there were 16 rapes, 340 robberies, and 199 felony assaults city-wide.

In total there were 991crimes recorded in city parks over the last twelve months.

Click on graphs to enlarge

The striking figures come from the latest crime data tracked by the NYPD under a 2014 law. The NYPD is now compiling crime data from 1,155 park properties, up from just 31 parks police began tracking in 2008.

Violent crimes in parks city-wide increased over the same third quarter period compared to last year.
Excluding Central Park, Murder was up 300 percent, Robberies up 17.82 percent, and Felony Assaults increased by 29.17 percent.

Manhattan parks had the greatest number of recorded crimes with a total of 331, followed by Brooklyn, 246, Bronx 228, Queens 174, followed by a distant Staten Island with 12 crimes.

The top five parks accounted for more than twenty-two percent of total crime in parks over the last twelve months.

Crime has remained a persistent problem in several parks, including Central and Riverside in Manhattan, Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Queens, and Crotona in the Bronx since police began tracking crime data on a limited basis almost a decade ago. This year St. Nicholas Park in upper Manhattan rounded out the top five most violent parks in the city with 16 incidents.

As usual Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Queens led the city in total crime outside of Central Park. The park reported 48 total crimes, including 2 rapes, 6 robberies, 10 felony assaults, 5 burglaries, 44 grand larcenies, and 1 grand larceny of a motor vehicle.

Four of the seven people murdered were in Bronx parks. Several Bronx parklands were crime hot spots including Crotona Park with 25 crimes including 6 robberies and 4 felony assaults. Claremont Park had 17 total crimes including 4 robberies and 10 felony assaults, Williamsbridge Oval had 9 robberies and 5 felony assaults, and Mullaly Park had 14 total crimes including 7 robberies and 1 felony assault.

3rd Quarter Park Crime Comparisons

2014 (3rd Quarter) Murder - 0 Rape - 5 Robbery - 101 Felony Assault - 72 Burglary-15 Grand Larceny - 236 Grand Larceny Of Motor Vehicle 3

2015 (3rd Quarter) Murder - 3 Rape - 4 Robbery - 119 Felony Assault - 93 Burglary - 6 Grand Larceny -164 Grand Larceny Of Motor Vehicle 2

* Excluding Central Park