“We all have the sense that it is safer on the street because that’s…
By Alexander Dworkowitz
In the aftermath of a gang rape in Flushing Meadows Corona Park two weeks ago, Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum has called on the city Police Department to target crimes against women.
“We all have the sense that it is safer on the street because that’s what’s being reported,” Gotbaum told a Dec. 22 news conference. “But women are not safer and that’s the message we need to get out today.”
Gotbaum’s comments came three days after a 42-year-old mother of two was brutally raped by a group of homeless men in Flushing Meadows, according to police. Almost a month ago, a similar incident took place when a woman was raped by five men in the public restroom of a Crown Heights park in Brooklyn while her nephew was locked in one of the stalls.
Luis Carmona, 20; Victor Cruz, 22; Jose Hernandez, 18; Carlos Rodriguez, 22, and Aramando Juvenal, 20, were arraigned on charges of rape, sodomy, robbery and kidnapping in the Flushing Meadows assault. The five could face 25 years in prison if convicted.
Authorities were still looking for a sixth suspect.
The group of men attacked the woman and her 38-year-old male friend on the ramp between the Long Island Rail Road stop and the No. 7 subway stop on the night of Dec. 19, according to Queens district attorney After beating both, the men dragged the woman to a shantytown off the LIRR tracks and repeatedly raped her while threatening to kill her, the DA said.
After regaining consciousness, the male companion borrowed a cell phone to call police. A search of the park led Officer Kim Flechaus and her police dog Sean to the suspects, police said, after Sean tracked them to a specific location inside a makeshift dwelling.
Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, speaking during a ceremony Dec. 23 honoring Flechaus and her dog, said police sent in the German shepherd when the three suspects failed to respond to police orders to come out of the woods and after the victim had run away from her alleged attackers.
The day after the rape and before Gotbaum made her comments, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly announced the department would restructure its sex crime unit and would make one commander accountable for the investigation of sex crimes.
Rapes have increased 4.9 percent in the period from Jan. 1 through Dec. 15 in 2002 compared to 2001, the only major crime statistic to rise in the city overall, Police Department statistics showed.
Rapes in Queens have actually decreased, declining to 339 so far this year from 345 through Dec. 15 last year.
In the 110th Precinct, which covers Flushing Meadows, rape has also dropped, falling to 33 incidents in the Jan. 1 to Dec. 15 span from 43 in the previous year.
Whether or not Flushing Meadows, at 1,255 acres the third largest park in the city, has become more dangerous is a difficult question to answer. The Parks Department keeps no statistics on crimes that occur in its parks, and the 110th Precinct publishes statistics for the precinct overall and not the park in particular.
A Parks official said there were few reports of criminal incidents in Flushing Meadows.
An officer with the 110th Precinct said he could not comment on whether or not patrols in the park had changed since the rape.
The Parks Department has a force of 200 Parks Enforcement Patrol officers who monitor Flushing Meadows and other city parks. The officers are trained and carry radios and batons.
One PEP officer in Flushing Meadows said the group planned to work later shifts after the rape, although the Parks Department could not confirm the statement.
Patricia Dolan, vice president of the Queens Civic Congress and president of the Kew Gardens Hills Civic Association, which abuts part of the park, said she thought an increased police presence in the park was not necessary.
“Frankly, I don’t think it’s reasonable to expect the Police Department to do extensive patrolling a park that size,” she said.
Dolan, however, said more signs needed to be posted throughout the park reminding visitors that Flushing Meadows closes at dusk.
“There’s a need for a lot more signage,” she said.
Reach reporter Alexander Dworkowitz by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 229-0300 Ext. 141.
