A very weird incident occured in Washington Square Park yesterday morning. Apparently a man put a stocking over his head and harrassed two couples with babies for a while, but then calmed down. The Post reports that the man climbed over a fence to the playground (though the gate was unlocked) and charged the couples a few times, and then climbed "the jungle gym and sat, Buddha-like, atop the kiddie-slide." It took a while for the cops to respond because many were getting ready for the Puerto Rican Day Parade. The masked fellow is being observed at Bellevue, but one of the fathers actually filed a complaint against the NYPD because reposnse took so long, saying, "There should be someone within a block or two of the park. The loonies are taking it over again." When did the loonies ever completely cede control of Washington Square Park? If anything, people try to not to notice the odd people because it frightens them.
Speaking of weird characters in Washington Square Park, our publisher Jake got a $50 ticket for biking through the park this weekend. Apparently there is "absolutely no biking" in the park-- and signs are posted at all the entrances. That's news to us! But bikers, maybe you shouldn't be quaking in your pedals just yet: during the half hour it took to write out the ticket, about 50 people zoomed by on bikes, and none got ticketed. So those are pretty good odds!
And up in Central Park, a man was arrested for stabbing another man. But it turns out the guy he stabbed was trying to steal his necklace, so the would-be thief was arrested as well.
