smylegrrl writes on Daily Slope: Speaking of gangs in Prospect Park — I was running this evening (7pm, it was not even dusk yet) and a gang of teenagers flew by me on bikes in the runners’ lane. I said something like, “Hey – watch it – what the fuck” and one of them laughed and said “hit the bitch”. Then one of them punched me in the back of the head.
They were all on bikes — about 6-8 of them. I stopped a cop car and they drove me around the park looking for them. We found them after a few minutes, but b/c they were/are so young and I couldn’t say 100% positively which on hit me, there was nothing the cops could do.
This is ridiculous. I run in the park 4-5 times a week — now I am afraid to run even in the middle of the day. Something needs to be done about violent teenagers/ mischievants in the park. My friends have expressed their concern to me as well before this incident — that they are afraid of these teenagers on bikes (or off bikes). Is it just me or is it completely backwards that people are afraid to use the park because teenagers can apparently get away with anything????
I see pepper spray and a shiny new whistle in your future.
My girlfriend and I were walking in the “3 circles” section of the park on 10/22/06 in the afternoon and we felt very threatened at one point by a young man (possibly a teenager) standing around conspicuously, alone near one of the circles. At one point I almost stopped because I thought there was going to be an altercation. I didn’t know it then, but this area is a popular gay cruising spot. We saw a few young men, alone, just sort of standing around. We also noticed one spot where a bunch of needles were laying. The seclusion of this area and seeming lack of police patrols make it a dangerous area. A man was found in the park, stabbed to death on April 22, 2006, who is thought to have been cruising this area just prior to his murder.