Christmas Day Park Muggings

Yesterday, there were two mugging incidents in city parks. Last night, a man was beaten with a club near the Unisphere in Queens' Flushing Meadows Park. He had been walking through the park around 6:40PM when two men attacked him. Police believe they were trying to rob the man, who is now in critical condition at Elmhurst General.

And yesterday afternoon, a tourist from Singapore was threatened at knife point in a Central Park bathroom. Mindy Tan was in a stall near 109th Street and East Drive when a man "broke down the door." From the Post:

"He said, 'Gimme your camera,' and I saw his face coming towards me," said Tan, a journalist, who believes the thug had been watching her taking pictures of ducks only a few moments earlier.

"I took a step forward to try to get by him," Tan said.

"He pushed me into the corner. He pointed a knife at me and grabbed the camera from around my neck with his other hand."

She called out to her friend Hazel Chan, who was in an adjoining stall.

When Chan - who is also from Singapore - came out, a second mugger appeared.

The man with the knife put his hand over Tan's mouth and warned her to "keep quiet," she said.

"I was staring at the blade all the time," she said.

Luckily the women were not injured. The police are still looking for the muggers. The Post also adds that although major crimes are down 20% since 2001 in the park, larcenies are up by 58% this year. Be careful, everyone.

Photograph from Triborough on Flickr