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Brutal Attacks Rare in Riverside Park, But Locals Stay Vigilant

By Leslie Albrecht

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

MORNINGSIDE HEIGHTS — Brutal attacks like the one that put a 19-year-old jogger in the hospital with serious head and facial injuries Monday don’t happen often in Riverside Park and police consider the area safe.

“This is considered an unusual occurrence,” said Officer Jason Harper of the 26th Precinct. “That area historically has never been a problem for assaults.”

Barnard College student Marisa Cortright was attacked about 6 a.m. as she ran near the tennis courts at W. 120th Street. Cortright’s attacker slammed her against a wall, leaving her with a broken cheekbone and lacerations on her face. Family members said she’s recovering well from her injuries at St. Luke’s Hospital.

A Crime Stoppers poster in Riverside Park near the spot where a 19-year-old jogger was attacked and robbed Monday morning.
A Crime Stoppers poster in Riverside Park near the spot where a 19-year-old jogger was attacked and robbed Monday morning.
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DNAinfo/Leslie Albrecht

Police are looking for a suspect seen leaving the area shortly after Cortright was assaulted. Cortright's iPod was stolen in the attack.

Harper said the northern section of Riverside Park patrolled by the 26th Precinct is considered “really safe.”

That’s true for Riverside Park as a whole when it comes to violent crime, according to data collected by New Yorkers for Parks. There were 10 assaults reported in the park between April 2006 and March 2010, the most recent data revealed.

People in Riverside Park on Thursday said they were shocked by Monday’s attack, but generally feel safe in the park. However, some said they feel less comfortable in the area near W. 120th Street where the attack happened because there’s less foot traffic.

“I feel less safe up here,” said 44-year-old Laura Ori, who lives on W. 86th Street. “It’s a little sparser.”

Susan Logan, 54, who walks her dog regularly in the park, said the attack highlights the divide between longtime locals and Columbia and Barnard students new to the area.

Logan said locals know there’s a heavily wooded homeless encampment near the spot where the attack happened, but new visitors to Riverside Park may not be aware.

“It’s not an area where you should feel completely safe at any time of the day or night,” Logan said. “If you’re a local and you live here, you know the rhythm of the park. It’s a different area at 7 a.m. versus 6 a.m. It’s folk wisdom for us, but it doesn’t seem to translate to the university.”

Barnard’s public safety office issued an e-mail alert after the attack warning students to stay vigilant.

Though assaults are rare in Riverside Park, the park’s overall crime numbers are among the highest. A 2008 study of the city's 30 largest parks found that Riverside Park had the most crime per acre after Central Park, said New Yorkers for Parks deputy director Cheryl Huber.

Riverside Park ranked fourth after Central Park, Flushing Meadows and Prospect Park in a citywide count of crimes reported in New York’s larger parks, according to New Yorkers for Parks.

“Out of the 30 larger parks, it has one of the higher crime numbers in terms of just the number of crimes happening there,” Huber said. “It doesn’t seem alarming, but it’s more than the other parks we track.”

Robbery is the most common crime committed in Riverside Park. Last year there were 17 robberies, 12 grand larcenies, one felony assault, one rape and no murders reported, according to data collected by New Yorkers for Parks.

Members of Community Board 7 and 9, which cover the park, say they don’t often hear concerns about crime in Riverside Park. Locals seem to worry more about speeding cyclists, said Klari Neuwelt, chair of Community Board 7’s parks and environment committee.

“People think of Riverside Park as one of our safer parks,” said Brad Taylor, chair of Community Board 9’s parks committee. “The park that gets the bum rap is Morningside Park. Over the years, that’s the park that people have been worried about.”

Huber said recent budget cuts will mean fewer city employees in parks, and that’s a concern.

“Even just having a maintenance person there helps deter crime and helps people feel safer,” Huber said. “Obviously safety or police officers are ideal, but even cuts to part-time maintenance workers are still detrimental to safety.”