NYPD beefs up patrols after Central Park violent robbery spree, visitors still on edge

A major uptick of muggings in Central Park — including three violent robberies within a 27-hour span — has left parkgoers on edge, wondering if they will be targeted next, visitors to the iconic greenspace said Saturday.

In response to the recent robberies, the NYPD said Saturday that is has stepped up patrols in the park. But visitors were still wary.

“It’s a little unnerving,” Upper West Side resident Deborah Moralez said about the jump in robberies as she entered the park at 97th St. on a balmy, sun-dappled Saturday afternoon. “I’m a little blown away by it actually.”

Moralez, 69, enjoys taking walks through Central Park on the weekends. Normally, she feels “fairly safe,” she said, but the recent robberies have given her pause.

“It’s very unsettling, but it’s not going to stop me from coming into the park,” she said defiantly.

Cops have seen a fivefold jump in robberies in Central Park this year, from three last year to 15 as of last Sunday.

That number doesn’t include the three that happened within 27 hours beginning Thursday night, when a mugger punched and sexually threatened a 28-year-old woman inside the park at W. 97th St., right where Moralez entered Saturday.

The woman was walking through the park about 7:15 p.m. when her attacker grabbed her from behind, cops said. He demanded her phone and wallet, then said he wanted to have sex with her before he punched her, cops said.

The victim purposely fell to the ground and curled up, tucking her bag against her body to stop the thief from grabbing it or trying to take off her clothes, cops said. The thief ran off with the woman’s phone, and she was not seriously harmed.

At 6:15 a.m. on Friday, three young men with a handgun robbed a 42-year-old man who was taking photos of the Pond near E. 59th St. and East Drive. One of the thieves put a gun to the victim’s head while his two accomplices repeatedly punched him in the face and knocked him to the ground before making off with his cell phone and wallet.

The mayhem continued about 9:40 p.m. Friday night when a crew of teenage muggers tried to swipe the cell phone from 25-year-old kindergarten paraprofessional Ashikur Chowdhury near E. 109th St. and East Drive.

Chowdhury told the Daily News one of teens put a gun to his face and pulled the trigger, but it only clicked.

“At that point, I should have been scared but was not,” Chowdhury said. “I was like… ‘Well if you’re gonna pull the gun, you better pull the trigger.’”

Instead, he said the two muggers took off, apparently spooked after Chowdhury, who stands at about 6-foot-2 and weighs over 200 pounds, then told them to leave before “this s–t gets worse.”

No arrests have been made in any of the three cases.

Parkgoers said they are as cautious as possible when walking through Central Park.

“I don’t listen to music. I do try to be aware of my surroundings. I avoid areas where it looks like there’s not a lot of people around,” Sonya Kim, 34, told the Daily News. “I avoid nighttime, but otherwise I don’t have any other rules. I haven’t really felt unsafe.”

Leland Hale, 29, enjoys coming to Central Park near E. 59th St. and East Drive to practice his cello on the weekends. He was surprised the robberies had occurred in such heavily traveled parts of the park.

“At 6 o’clock in the morning this time of the year the sun’s out,” he said. “It’s very concerning. This area specifically. It’s more public than most of the park. You’ve got to go a little bit deeper into the park to get a little seclusion.

“I’ve got a wife. I’ve got kids at home,” he said, thinking about what he would do if he crossed paths with a mugger in the park. “If they want to take my phone, fine. I can get a new phone. None of that’s more important than making sure I make it home alive.”

Kim believes that when it comes to safety, Central Park is just like the rest of the city — and she’s not planning on leaving the Big Apple anytime soon.

“I don’t think I would avoid the park because of [the robberies],” she said. “I just feel like these incidents, you never know when it’s going to happen.”

And, despite the recent uptick in robberies, Central Park is still “one of the best places on Earth,” parkgoer Susan Cushing, 55, added.

“I don’t think it’s changed drastically,” she said. “I feel like it’s patrolled enough. If you need a policeman, you can find one.”