Homeless increase in Monrovia and our Parks

This is recent news in New York. It can happen anywhere.

Walked to the Library park this past weekend around noon time with my two small children and saw at least 15 lying around the front and side of the area. 

The suspect was in custody Tuesday. Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly says he appeared to be homeless and emotionally disturbed.

NEW YORK — A man went on a rampage with scissors Tuesday morning on a Hudson River bike path, slashing or stabbing five people, including a toddler, police said.

The suspect, who appeared to be homeless and emotionally disturbed, was taken into custody, said Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly.

All the victims — two women and two men in their 30s and a 1-year-old boy — were expected to survive, though one of the women was listed in critical condition.

Witnesses said they heard screaming and a child crying before police arrived and grabbed the suspect shortly after 8 a.m. in Manhattan's Riverside Park near West 65th street.

Geoffrey Croft, a spokesman for New York City Park Advocates, called the attack the latest episode in a "troubling trend" of violence in city parks.

He noted that a mother pushing a stroller along the Henry Hudson Parkway in Fort Tryon Park in Upper Manhattan was attacked by a homeless man last week. At least two bicyclists were attacked a week apart in August along the Hudson River around 163rd Street, and two other people were slashed south of 60th Street a month earlier, Croft said.

He said the advocacy group has been calling for more park enforcement for years. Citywide, he said there are 80 security officers patrolling the city's parks with another 80 recently hired. In the 1990s, there were 450 parks security officers, he said.

Jason Santos, a 21-year-old biker from Queens, said he wouldn't use the bike path as much because of the most recent attack.

Edlin Pitts, a Manhattan resident who uses the path daily, said he had been cognizant of safety at night, "but this happened during the day, and I'm concerned."

"I'll just try to be more aware now — and I won't let this stop me," he added.

Yellow police tape and park security on Tuesday closed access to the path for a 20-block stretch.