The NYPD says it’s increased patrols in Central Park as officers continue searching for the man who raped a 39-year-old woman at knifepoint in the park on Saturday night.
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“The NYPD has increased patrols in Central Park,” the department said in a statement to the New York Post, reminding parkgoers to stay aware of their surroundings. Uniformed officers will focus on the park’s footpaths and wooded areas, the NYPD told CBS New York, adding that it had already stepped up patrols because of a rise in robberies in the park.The woman told police she was jogging on the east side of the park near East 66th Street shortly before 8:30 p.m. when a man dressed in black approached her with a knife, dragged her into a wooded area, raped her and ran off, the New York Times reported. Police have since released images of the suspect, who was wearing a black sweatshirt and black sweatpants and carrying a black backpack. No arrest had been announced as of Thursday morning.
Saturday’s attack is the fifth rape reported in the park this year, according to NYPD statistics. There were three in all of 2025. Police have made arrests in three of the four earlier cases this year, according to the Times.
It’s the latest in a string of violent incidents in the park. On October 18, a 32-year-old woman riding her bike was hit in the head and robbed by three men who took her AirPods. That woman, Katherine Marroquin, told the Times she doesn’t think the city is doing enough to keep the park safe. Last month, a 63-year-old woman who lived in the park was killed there.
Serious crime in the park is still relatively rare given its tens of millions of visits each year. There have been about 55 robberies, felony assaults, sex crimes and murders in the park so far this year, roughly the same as at this point last year and slightly fewer than at this point in 2024, according to NYPD statistics released Monday.
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The attack also comes days before the TCS New York City Marathon, whose course passes within a few hundred feet of where the woman was attacked. Crystal Howard, a spokeswoman for New York Road Runners, told the Times the organization works closely with law enforcement year-round to protect runners, spectators, volunteers and staff. On its website, NYRR advises runners to avoid jogging alone or at night, stick to well-lit areas around other people and skip the headphones.Anyone with information is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). Tips can also be submitted on the CrimeStoppers website or by sending a direct message to @NYPDTips on X. All calls are strictly confidential.
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