running in the park - safe?

zura04 · April 2006

hi all,

I just moved to Park Slope and am living 1/2 block from the park... I'd like to go running in the park in the AM before work.

if you go running around 6:45-7am, is it safe? or is it kind of sketchy? any feedback appreciated...

armchair_warrior · April 2006

never been there at that earlier. but other times of the day is very safe. and if you dont know the park that well stay to the path!!!

8thandprez · April 2006

very safe, i think. im a male in my mid-30s, but there are always a lot of people in the park at that time of day. plenty of cars too.

8thandprez · April 2006

clarification: if you stick to the road, it should be plenty safe. if you're more of an off-road runner and want to stray onto the trails, you may feel (and be) unsafe.

zura04 · April 2006

yeah, i was planning on sticking to the road... i just know that the other side of the park that is not park slope is not as nice, and didn't know if it was sketchy to run over there.

rose · April 2006

I run in the park 3x a week, but never that early. I would think there are probably a lot of people there at that time though, getting in their run before going to work. I tend to run mid-morning and it feels perfectly safe on nice days -- there are always other runners, people on bikes, people strolling with dogs and kids etc. On cold, wet, gloomy days it can be fairly deserted, even on the main road.

The two roads that cut through the middle of the park are nice to run on, and also IMO quite safe on warm, sunny days when the park is crowded, but you might want to avoid them on the cold, gloomy days when there aren't many people around.

quijibo · April 2006

yea. it's safe to run early in the park. just stick to the track around the park. there's always plenty of people around

the sketchiest part would be the area between the Lincoln Road entrance and the Grand Army Plaza entrance -- it's easy to recognize cause it's all uphill

watch out for all the men loitering around the veil of cashmere

unless you're into that sort of thing

8thandprez · April 2006

quijibo wrote: the sketchiest part would be the area between the Lincoln Road entrance and the Grand Army Plaza entrance -- it's easy to recognize cause it's all uphill

watch out for all the men loitering around the veil of cashmere

zura, since youre new to prospect park, the vale of cashmere is our local gay cruising ground in the park. it's well off the road, however, so you needn't be worried about any unsavory activity when you're running. as quijbo says, the long uphill part between the boathouse and grand army plaza feels the sketchiest bc you're in the woods and there isn't a lot of activity. i've only ever seen one possibly unsightly thing in my 3.5 yrs of running in the park: running after dark on a misty night i saw a prostitute leading her john into the woods across from the zoo.

see the map of prospect park to get an idea of the landmarks.

my recommendation is this: start at grand army plaza. take a look at how many people are running/biking past. if there are a good number of people, you'll be fine.

kosherdave · April 2006

Subject: Re: running in the park - safe?

zura04 wrote: hi all,
if you go running around 6:45-7am, is it safe? or is it kind of sketchy? any feedback appreciated...

Hey, I run in the evenings in the park, but was thinking I might run in the mornings around that time. Maybe we could put together an occasional organized but informal morning run. With two or three people with you, you should be able to run anywhere you like without worry. I'm not sure of your level of running, distance and speed, but if this sounds good, lemme know, maybe I'll have more motivation to get up early when those damn birds are waking me up anyway!

rose · April 2006

8thandPrez wrote: i've only ever seen one possibly unsightly thing in my 3.5 yrs of running in the park: running after dark on a misty night i saw a prostitute leading her john into the woods across from the zoo.

Yeah.

I lived (and ran) in various suburbs of NYC and Philadelphia until I moved to NYC in the early '90 and I had so many incidents from annoying to scary while running -- men in cars honking, shouting stuff, even following me; teenage boys riding by on bikes yelling stuff and even on one occasion trying to grab at me as they rode past; territorial dogs acting menacing. In many years of running in NYC and especially Prospect Park, I've never (knocking wood) had an "incident" of any kind.

Not to say that you shouldn't be careful and aware of your surroundings. The few times I've run in the park after dark I was uncomfortable and decided not to do it again.

oneasternparkway · April 2006

As others have said, from at least 6:30 onward on decent (re: no rain or snow) weather days, you should be fine, provided you're aware of your surroundings and stay out of the way of bikes and cars.

A side note -- I'm an experienced runner and a tall male, and I think I'm a bit irresponsible when I run after dark in the park. I shudder when I come across more vulnerable people, especially women, running by themselves at night, often with their Shuffle blaring. Note to all -- if you're going to run with headphones, do it during the day, and stick strictly to the running lane of the road. If you're going to run at night, keep the iPod at home.

Kosherdave, I'm not in running condition right now due to some foot issues, but would be interested in getting some folks together for runs in the near future.

drano · April 2006

Wow, after dark, huh? I don't exactly have "target" written all over me either, but I doubt I'd swing that - then again, I'm not usually desperate to run, it's more like I find reasons not to do it...

But yeah, when in doubt stick to the road.

kosherdave · April 2006

OnEasternParkway wrote: I'm not in running condition right now due to some foot issues, but would be interested in getting some folks together for runs in the near future.

Sounds great. When you're all heeled maybe we can get a little informal and occasional run organized. I'm not opposed to mornings or evenings. I don't run in the early AM now, but I might be able to muster up the motivation if others were meeting up...

markroth8 · April 2006

I used to go running around 6 or 7 AM in one of the Jack Rabbit Sports running classes, and never felt unsafe. Of course, I was with a group of runners, too, but still it seemed perfectly fine. Unfortunately, they don't offer a class that early anymore. It was fun!

I'd recommend finding a running partner or group anyway since it's always safer, more fun, and your friends can help motivate you to keep running!

medusa · April 2006

I wouldn't sweat it, especially if you're in decent shape and it's this time of your. As the summer progresses, more and more people make an effort to run in the cooler hours, so the morning becomes more crowded. Also, all the dog-owners are out early as their pups can run leash-free.

I agree with the note about the Vale of Cashmere. One of my least pleasant moments in running occurred there when I was running uphill and a guy stood, facing me, leaning against a lampost and masturbated. I was in crappy shape and could only just trudge by and avoid eye contact. This was probably 12 years ago and in the middle of the day, mind you. It was even during the cars-allowed hours. But no cars came by during the whole time I trudged up the hill. Ugh.

anonymous · April 2006

There's usually a good amount of people running at that time of the morning - that's usually when I go (when I'm able to drag my sorry ass out of bed early enough) and I always have company. Use good judgment - I usually take a peak from PPW to make sure there are others running (it tends to be emptier on colder or rainy days).

You could check the board at Jack Rabbit Sports on 7th Avenue - they have a board where you can post if you're looking for a running buddy. The Prospect Park Track Club might be of interest to you, too.

anonymous · April 2006

There was a body recovered from the Veil of Cashmere on Saturday, 4/22.

60-ish man, stabbed in the chest. Be aware and be careful.

rose · April 2006

Anonymous wrote: There was a body recovered from the Veil of Cashmere on Saturday, 4/22.

60-ish man, stabbed in the chest. Be aware and be careful.

Veil? Vale? There is another thread about this somewhere. You have to be looking for the Vale of Cashmere to actually end up there, I think. I've walked through there with my dogs -- it is very pretty. Wouldn't go there without my dogs, though.

Meanwhile, I think everyone in Brooklyn who owns a pair of running shoes was running in the park yesterday after the rain stopped. I don't think I've ever seen so many runners in the park.

kosherdave · April 2006

Rose wrote: ...Meanwhile, I think everyone in Brooklyn who owns a pair of running shoes was running in the park yesterday after the rain stopped. I don't think I've ever seen so many runners in the park.

There was a race in PPark on Saturday also. Despite the rain, it was a nice day to run, unlike sunday, when 3000+ of us were running in the downpour in Central Park. I think I'm still wet!

rose · April 2006

I signed up for the race in Central Park but I skipped it. I hate running in the rain!

anonymous · May 2006

Subject: $2,000 Reward?

I just got back from a jog around the outside of the park and noticed on Flatbush Ave by the Vail of Cashmere a poster asking for information about the stabbing. Am I the only one appalled that the reward is a measly $2,000? This was an unprovoked murder committed in an extremely popular park during the daytime. How heinous does a crime have to be to push the reward up to $5,000? $10,000?

Rewards work. Although I recognize that this appears to be a difficult crime to solve there is no reason why the City should not take every effort to apprehend the perpetrator. This should include offering a reward commensurate with the seriousness of the crime.

running in the park - safe?

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