Central Park: Teens Rob Man Of Cellphones

A group of four confronted  a 31-year-old victim at E. 106th St. near Fifth Ave. late Sunday, according to police.

Manhattan

Four teens mugged a 31-year-old man for his cellphones in Central Park Sunday, police said, according to the New York Daily News.

The victim was confronted at E. 106th St. near Fifth Ave. about 10:25 p.m. He was grabbed in a headlock and punched, but did not suffer serious injuries.

The suspects fled with the victim’s two T-Mobile prepaid phones and are still being sought.

Read More:

Cops hunt teens who allegedly stole man's cellphones in Central Park
New York Daily News - September 22, 2014 -  By Rocco Parascandola  

Man Assaulted In Union Square Park

A Mess. The encampment, known for illegal drinking, drug use,  fighting and general filth, prevents the general public from accessing this section of the park.   (Geoffrey Croft/NYC Park Advocates) Click on images to enlarge.

Manhattan

By Geoffrey Croft

The South-West part of Union Square Park near the Mohandas Gandhi statue on 14th Street has become the wild-wild west. 

Last night a fight broke out and a man was punched in the face NYC Park Advocates has learned.

The victim sustained a bloody mouth, mouth and nose according to police.

Nicholas Nelendez, 23 of Webster Avenue in the Bronx was arrested and charged with Assault after he and the victim had a verbal altercation.  

The victim was treated by EMS and released.

The Parks Department removed all the permanent benches from the area. Maintenance workers say they are afraid to go into the area.


The incident occurred around 7:00pm between the park's ornamental fountain and the Gandhi statue which has been a hotbed of illegal activity for several years.

The area is known for illegal drinking, drug use and fighting. 

For years calls for the Parks Department to re-establish a permanent multi-tour PEP presence in the park have fallen on deaf ears.

Instead of addressing these conditions the parks department went so far as to remove all the benches in the area to discourage the illegal behavior. 

However removable chairs and tables provided by the Union Square Partnership have replaced the permanent benches.

"Its ugly, it's a blight on the park," said a parks worker referring to that section of the park.  

"Things happen there all the time. They come from all over to hang out and cause trouble. Being that this is such a high visibility park and they just spent all that money you would think the city would care but they don't.  It's sad people don't feel safe.  These people prevent regular people from enjoying that area of the park. That's not right,"  the worker said.      

Another Causality. The Parks Department has blocked access to the circular area around the historic George Washington Statue due to its inablity to police the area.  

Update: Man Arrested For Preventing Parks Dept. From Removing Tree

Manhattan

A Brooklyn man was arrested yesterday in Tompkins Square Park for trying to prevent the Parks Department from cutting down a tree, NYC Park Advocates has learned.

William Talen, 64,  of Brooklyn was arrested by police who say he climbed on top of a Parks Department forestry truck and refused to move. 

The incident occurred yesterday at approximately 10:00 A.M.

Talen was brought to the 9th Precinct and charged with Obstructing Governmental Administration.  

The Parks Department said the tree presented a safety hazzard to the public. 

"Working with a professional arborist, Parks determined that the leaning elm tree in the center of the park was structurally unsound and posed a danger to the public," an agency spokesperson said in a statement. 

"Tomography tests and resistograph readings have shown that it was likely to fall under normal weather conditions.  There were significant cavities, decay and hollow conditions in the trunk of the tree which failed standard recognized arborcultural guidelines. Therefore, in the interests of public safety, the Parks Department had no alternative but to remove this tree. 

Madison Sq. Park Assault: Park Employee Attacked By Crazed Dog Owner While Locking Up Park

Manhattan

A crazed dog owner attacked a park worker attempting to lock up Madison Square Park, NYC Park Advocates has learned.

Craig Russell, 60 of Manhattan reached into the passenger side of the parks' vehicle and grabbed a 52-year-old mother,  a JTP working for Parks,  and punched her several times in the face while yelling out racial slurs according to parks sources.

The perpetrator continued to hold the arm of the worker, while the City Parks Worker driven vehicle headed toward the Shake Shack stand in the park. 

The man refused to let go of the worker's arm while the vehicle took off.

The perpetrator eventually fell while being dragged which released the worker.  

He was taken into custody by officers from the 13 Precinct . 

Russell was transported to Bellevue Hospital to treat a leg injuring - possibly a broken leg - where he is awaiting charges by the DA's office.

The park worker was transported to Beth Israel Hospital to treat injuries to the right cheek and wrist.

Russell who lives near the park tied his 13-year-old dog to a park railing when a Parks Department vehicle entered the park late Thursday evening at approximately  at 11:50pm according to the complaint filed with police. 

Woman Critically Injured After Getting Struck By Cyclist In Central Park ­

NYPD examine the scene in Central Park where a pedestrian was struck by cyclist Jason Marshall, 31  on Thursday afternoon. Jill Tarlov, 59, suffered severe head trauma after being struck and hitting the ground  as she was walking across a crosswalk in the park on the west Drive near W. 63 St. around 4:30 p.m.  (Photo: David McGlynn)

Manhattan

The wife of a CBS executive suffered a critical head injury when she got slammed by a cyclist in Central Park on Thursday afternoon, cops said, according to the New York Post. 

Jill Tarlov, 59, who lives in Fairfield, Conn., was in a crosswalk near 63rd Street when cyclist Jason Marshall, 31, came barreling along West Drive and yelled for her to get out of his way, law-enforcement sources said.

Tarlov, whose husband Michael Wittman is a senior vice president at CBS, was rushed to New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, where she was declared brain dead, sources said.

Marshall, an accomplished baritone saxophone player, was riding on a $4,000 Jamis Eclipse racing bike when he spotted the woman in the crosswalk at an intersection controlled by a traffic light, sources said.

“He was riding in the car lane and yelling: ‘Get out of the way! Get out of the way!’” one source said.

It was unclear who had the light, but Marshall — who remained at the scene — “admits to being in the wrong lane,” the source added.

A family member said that Marshall was taken to the hospital.

Cops were talking to the Manhattan DA’s Office about possible charges.

Law-enforcement sources said Marshall was among a number of athletic cyclists who routinely ride in the car lanes so they can go faster through the park.

“These guys think that they have entitlement and they don’t ride in the bike lanes,” one source said.

Witness Phillip Fenton, 21, who’s visiting New York on a geography field trip from the UK’s University of Exeter, said Marshall was “speeding,” adding: “It didn’t look like he tried to stop.”

“He was yelling for her to get out of the way, but I don’t think she heard him and then they just collided,” Fenton said.

Fenton’s pal Tom Longman said Marshall was hunched over the brakeless “aerobars” attached to the handlebars of his high-performance, yellow-and-black ride.

“He couldn’t break because he was leaning down,” Longman said. “She went down pretty hard. The right side of her face looked very bad. There was blood all over her.”

Read More:

Woman brain dead after getting hit by cyclist in Central Park  

New York Post - September 18, 2014 - By Larry Celona, Erin Calabrese, Kirstan Conley and Bruce Golding 

Pedestrian Critically Injured In Accident With Cyclist In Central Park 

WCBS - September 18, 2014

Jogger In Forest Park Robbed

Police released these images of the suspect wanted in Tuesday night's robbery of a 28-year-old jogger in Forest Park. The woman managed to excape after he tried to grab her from behind.

Queens

Police are hunting for a man suspected of mugging a woman who was jogging Tuesday evening in Forest Park, police said according to DNAinfo.

The park has been a focus of daily police patrols in the wake of the six sexual assaults that took place there from 2011 to 2013. Investigators have linked the attacks to one man. This week's mugging brings the number of robberies in Forest Park to at least three this year, according to NYPD statistics.

The 28-year-old victim in Tuesday's robbery, who lives in Richmond Hill, told investigators that she entered the park for a run near Myrtle Avenue near 111th Street, police said.

The woman was running on the main path around 6:15 p.m. when she passed a man who looked at her. She told police that she grew suspicious because he was wearing a long-sleeve gray shirt and baggy blue jeans instead of jogging clothes.

The woman told police that the man then ran up to her from behind and grabbed her by the mouth. When she began to scream, he stole her headphones and fled, police said.

Police described the suspect as being in his late 30s or early 40s, between 5-foot-7 and 5-foot-8, balding with blondish/grayish hair on the side, thin build but with a protruding belly.

Read More:

Woman Robbed While Jogging in Forest Park, Police Say 

DNAinfo -September 17, 2014 - By Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska  

Cops seek bald creep who allegedly mugged jogger in Queens park

New York Daily News - September 18, 2014 - By Jospeh Stepansky   

Parks Department Worker Hospitalized After Being Overwhelmed By Fumes From Stream In Willowbrook Park

A Parks Deparmtent CPW was overwhelmed by fumes while he investigated reported and odor coming from a stream In Willowbrook Park. A park patron's dog became violently ill from drinking the water and reported it to the Parks Department.  (Hilton Flores/Staten Island Advance)

Staten Island

The mystery of the substance that sickened a Parks Department employee and reportedly several pets on a trail leading to Willowbrook Park continued on Tuesday, according to the Staten Island Advance.

Chemical tests conducted Monday on a trail leading to the park came back negative, and a Parks Department spokeswoman said city agencies would work to identify the odor. 

As of Tuesday morning, a potential cause had yet to be released.

According to Councilman Steve Matteo (R-Mid-Island/Brooklyn), a white substance found in a stream on the Greenbelt's White Trail was the source of the odor. Officials encountered the stream while walking along the trail for about 15 minutes, Matteo said.

The White Trail runs between Willowbrook Park and Forest Hill Road — its northern tip is located in the park.

"There was definitely a strong smell," he said on Monday. "What that is, I don't know."

A Parks Department worker was hospitalized Monday afternoon after becoming overwhelmed by the fumes. Parks had received several reports from members of the public that their dogs became ill at the site, but were unable to confirm that.

Multiple sources told the Advance the Parks worker was investigating those claims when he too fell ill.

Monday's incident prompted a massive emergency response that included cops, firefighters, Hazmat units and the city's Office of Emergency Management.

The uncertainty has spooked area residents and visitors to Willowbrook Park.

Neil O'Sullivan was concerned because his dog had grown sick after a visit to Willowbrook. According to O'Sullivan, his dog vomited shortly after arriving at the park, and lost its appetite for a few hours afterward.

He said he didn't smell anything at Willowbrook, and had reached out to several agency for guidance, but had yet to receive any.

"No one can give an answer," he said in an e-mail to the Advance. "Was frustrating being referred and referred and referred when trying to find info on [the] severity of [the] incident."

Read More:

As Willowbrook Park mystery continues,  visitors,  residents grow uneasy

Staten Island Advance - September 16, 2014 - By  Eddie DAnna