A 29-year-old woman was the victim of a sex crime in Morningside Park on Sunday evening.
A 5-foot-8-inch black man in his 20s “performed a sex act” on the woman at 6 p.m. on Sunday, according to Lt. John Grimpel of the New York Police Department. The crime, which took place on the upper path of Morningside Park between 116th and 118th streets, was classified as a criminal sex act, Grimpel said.
An alert issued by Columbia University Public Safety said that the victim was walking, engaged in a short conversation with the suspect, and was then sexually assaulted. Grimpel said that the suspect was wearing a hooded, zippered sweatshirt, a black do-rag, and blue jeans.
“The fact that this brazen assault took place during daylight hours is especially troubling,” Brad Taylor, secretary of Friends of Morningside Park, said.
The assault comes after a string of shootings this summer prompted the NYPD’s 26th Precinct to increase its patrol cars through the park.
Still, the upper level of the park—where the attack Sunday occurred—is “the hardest to patrol as it can only be accessed by foot, but this is the area that needs the most attention,” Taylor said.
Friends of Morningside Park has lobbied the city to increase its patrols of Morningside for years, Taylor said. While Columbia currently funds one Parks Enforcement Patrol officer in Morningside, Taylor said, it funds four PEP officers in West Harlem Piers Park, a park one-sixth the size of Morningside.
“Morningside Park’s rugged terrain would require many more officers to establish the same security presence” as in West Harlem Piers Park, Taylor said. “Park users need and deserve more security coverage in Morningside Park.”
After this summer’s shootings, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer pledged in August to fund a security camera in the park, and Friends of Morningside Park has been fundraising for more, though none have been installed yet.
The staircase at 116th Street at Morningside Drive was cordoned off on Monday morning but had been reopened by 1 p.m. Later in the day, students said they were shocked to hear the circumstances of the attack.
“I feel horrified,” Hector Forero, GS, said. “It’s terrible when you hear it’s that close to you. And the fact that it was daylight is shocking.”
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