By Leslie Albrecht
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
UPPER WEST SIDE — Police officers are posing as city parks workers in the hopes of catching a man who brutally attacked two women in Riverside Park earlier this month, NYPD said.
No arrests have been made in connection with the attacks, which both occurred July 5. Earlier this month police released a sketch and a video of a man who they believe attacked the two women within minutes of each other.
Police asked the parks department to borrow uniforms after the attacks and have been working undercover as parks employees to keep tabs on the area.
"That way, if they see anything suspicious, they can actually catch the person before they do something," said Officer Jason Harper of the 26th Precinct.
Police said that they were following up on a few leads.
"Nothing that we can talk about, but it's still a very active investigation. Hopefully a conclusion will be reached within the next few weeks," NYPD said.
The attacker first struck at about 6 a.m. when he knocked 19-year-old Barnard student Marisa Cortright to the ground as she jogged near the tennis courts in Riverside Park at W. 120th Street.
Twenty minutes later, police believe the same man knocked over then hit and kicked a 48-year-old woman as she walked her Welsh terrier in the park near 98th Street and Riverside Drive. The New York Daily News identified the woman as Jan Blumenfeld.
Cortright, who was seriously injured, was hospitalized for several days. Blumenfeld was treated by her private physician, police said.
The suspect isn't the only person being sought by police. Detectives also want to talk to a different man who was seen leaving the area shortly after Cortright was attacked.
Uniformed patrol officers have been searching the park, especially secluded areas such as the woods behind the tennis courts where Cortright was attacked, police said.
Residents say the wooded area is a hangout for "suspicious characters."
Parks and Recreation Manager Crista Carmody told Community Board 7 recently that police were questioning people in the wooded area and checking to see whether any had outstanding warrants.
Michael Sonin, 35, who plays tennis regularly at the courts near where Cortright was attacked, said he noticed a stepped up police presence in the days following the attacks.
"For a while after the incident there they were here basically every day," Sonin said. He said he'd seen fewer officers in the past few days.
Posters with a sketch of the suspect and Crime Stoppers posters still hang along the path where Cortright was attacked.
