Central Park

===Crime and neglect===
In the mid-20th century, Central Park had a reputation for being very dangerous, especially after dark.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=471–473}}  Such a viewpoint was reinforced following a 1941 incident when 12-year-old Jerome Dore fatally stabbed 15-year-old James O'Connell in the northern section of the park.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|p=471}}<ref>{{Cite news|date=November 3, 1941|title=Hoodlums Hunted in Fatal Stabbing; Boy's Death, Climax of Attacks Around Park, Arouses Police|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1941/11/03/archives/hoodlums-hunted-in-fatal-stabbing-boys-death-climax-of-attacks.html|access-date=May 18, 2022|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Local tabloids cited this incident and several other crimes as evidence of a highly exaggerated "crime wave". Though recorded crime had indeed increased since Central Park opened in the late 1850s, this was in line with crime trends seen in the rest of the city.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=471–473}} Central Park's reputation for crime was reinforced by its worldwide name recognition, and the fact that crimes in the park were covered disproportionately compared to crimes in the rest of the city. For instance, in 1973 ''[[The New York Times]]'' wrote stories about 20%&nbsp;of murders that occurred citywide but wrote about three of the four murders that took place in Central Park that year. By the 1970s and 1980s, the number of murders in the police precincts north of Central Park was 18 times higher than the number of murders within the park itself, and even in the precincts south of the park, the number of murders was three times as high.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=474–475}}

The park was the site of numerous high-profile crimes during the late 20th&nbsp;century. Of these, two particularly notable cases shaped public perception against the park.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=474–475}} In 1986, [[Robert Chambers (criminal)|Robert Chambers]] murdered Jennifer Levin in what was later called the "preppy murder."<ref>{{cite web|last=Stone|first=Michael|title=Robert Chambers, Jennifer Levin, and a Death That Shocked the City |work=New York Magazine|date=June 27, 2008|url=http://nymag.com/news/features/crime/48262/|access-date=September 16, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190717155329/http://nymag.com/news/features/crime/48262/|archive-date=July 17, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Jennifer Levin's Mother Remembers 'Preppy Murder' Case |publisher=WCBS-TV|date=September 2, 2011|url=https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2011/09/02/jennifer-levins-mother-remembers-preppy-murder-case/|access-date=September 16, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161227043442/http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2011/09/02/jennifer-levins-mother-remembers-preppy-murder-case/|archive-date=December 27, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> Three years later, an investment banker was raped and brutally beaten in what came to be known as the [[Central Park jogger case]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/07/17/nyregion/smart-driven-woman-overcomes-reluctance.html |title='Smart, Driven' Woman Overcomes Reluctance|last=Farber|first=M. A|date=July 17, 1990|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 19, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170128192924/http://www.nytimes.com/1990/07/17/nyregion/smart-driven-woman-overcomes-reluctance.html|archive-date=January 28, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Didion|first=Joan|author-link=Joan Didion|date=January 17, 1991|title=Sentimental Journeys|work=[[The New York Review of Books]]|url=http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/1991/jan/17/new-york-sentimental-journeys/ |access-date=June 21, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100521085938/http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/1991/jan/17/new-york-sentimental-journeys/|archive-date=May 21, 2010|url-status=live}} (This essay has also been published in Didion's non-fiction collection ''After Henry'' (1992)).</ref> Conversely, other crimes such as the 1984 gang-rape of two homeless women were barely reported.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=474–475}} After World War&nbsp;II, it was feared that gay men perpetrated sex crimes and attracted violence.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|p=479}} Other problems in the 1970s and 1980s included a drug epidemic, a large homeless presence, vandalism, and neglect.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=518–519}}<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/05/26/archives/new-york-parks-face-a-touchandgo-summer-new-york-parks-face-bleak.html |title=New York Parks Face a Touch-and-Go Summer...|last=Ferre'Iti|first=Fred|date=May 26, 1977|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 19, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190419161620/https://www.nytimes.com/1977/05/26/archives/new-york-parks-face-a-touchandgo-summer-new-york-parks-face-bleak.html|archive-date=April 19, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Sheftell 2010"/>

As crime has declined in New York City, many of these negative perceptions have waned.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=474–475}} Safety measures keep the number of crimes in the park to fewer than 100 per year {{as of|2019|lc=y}}, down from approximately 1,000 in the early 1980s.<ref name="NYPD 22nd Precinct CS"/> Some well-publicized crimes have occurred since then: for instance, [[Puerto Rican Day Parade attacks|on June&nbsp;11, 2000]], following the [[Puerto Rican Day Parade]], gangs of drunken men [[sexual assault|sexually assaulted]] women in the park.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/06/13/nyregion/35-scary-minutes-women-tell-police-of-assaults-in-park.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm|title=35 Scary Minutes: Women Tell Police Of Assaults in Park|last1=Chivers|first1=C. J.|first2=Kevin|last2=Flynn|date=June 13, 2000|work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=April 11, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120423085059/http://www.nytimes.com/2000/06/13/nyregion/35-scary-minutes-women-tell-police-of-assaults-in-park.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm|archive-date=April 23, 2012|url-status=live}}</ref>