Dispelling a Rumor

POSTED JULY 9, 2007

An open letter to the community from Nelle Fortenberry, President of the Friends of Washington Market Park

Dear Neighbors:

I would like to address the concerns of parents and caregivers regarding what may—or in this case, may not—have occurred in the last few weeks in Washington Market Park. Our organization has received over 500 emails from worried parents regarding a rumored "child predator" incident. Many seized on these unsubstantiated rumors and forwarded them to other parents, and the email wildfire spread quickly.

I heard about the rumor shortly after the supposed incident took place on June 25. I immediately communicated with all levels of City of New York Parks & Recreation, including our own park staff, and phoned the 1st Precinct. No incident reports had been filed. Over the next several days, I met with officers at the precinct and our new Parks Enforcement Patrol (PEP) officer, as well as the PEP sergeant for Lower Manhattan. I also spoke to the Chief Operating Officer of the Battery Park City Parks Conservancy and met with his playground staff—who had been falsely credited with dispensing the original Washington Market Park "predator alert" to members of the Hudson River Mother's group. No one among them was able to verify that a predator had been in Washington Market Park on June 25.

I tried for a week to locate the victim of the rumored predator incident—not one parent in any of the hundreds of circulating emails had been able to trace the story back to the parent whose "3-year-old girl was the target of an attempted abduction." All of the emails cited "a nanny told me..." or "I heard..." but no one actually claimed that it happened to them. As a parent, I believe if anyone tried to touch my child—let alone abduct her—I would immediately alert the police, the park staff, the Parks Department, anyone of authority. No such report was ever made.

The concerns funneled all the way up to Community Board 1, who requested that the police department send officers to do "walk arounds" in the park during the following week even though no incident had been substantiated. The police presence in the park only added grist to the rumor mill, making it appear that the park was a dangerous place in need of surveillance.

To be fair, the rumors started taking on a life of their own after a potential predator incident was reported on May 9, also dramatized through the email chain. In that incident, a nanny noticed a "strange" young man on a park bench watching children play. While adults are not allowed in the playground areas without a child, they are welcome to sit on a park bench unaccompanied by a child. Regardless, this nanny thought there was something odd about this particular lone man and when he asked her charge and if he wanted to play "tag," the nanny pulled the child away and the guy left the park. That is what happened. Contrary to rumored reports, he did not try to get the child to leave the park with him. The parents of this child were concerned that this young man could be a possible child predator and they attempted to file a formal police report. The police would not file anything, however, since no illegal or threatening incident actually took place that day. The parents contacted the Friends of Washington Market Park for help.

Simultaneous to this incident, we had noticed that our park was understaffed in the afterschool hours of 3:00-6:00pm, when hundreds of children descend from local schools. I asked the Parks Department to alter the Washington Market Park crew schedule to put more staff on duty in the afternoon, and I also requested a seasonal PEP officer to help patrol our busy park (he started recently). Again, this action was exaggerated in emails, with many parents claiming that a "full-time security guard has been assigned to the park because of the predator danger." The PEP officer is there because we felt we needed one. He is on duty to enforce all park rules, provide added security in a crowded park, and respond to emergency situations if needed.

With the May 9 "incident" widely discussed via email, it didn't take much for parents to believe it when a second purported incident started circulating through the rumor mill. The press soon seized on the predator story. Channel 4, Channel 5 and NY1 all sent crews to cover this "second incident," which was based solely on hearsay. The New York Post printed a story on July 2 with the overreaching headline "Child Lure Creep." Their story falsely claimed that "a man approached a 7-year-old girl," intending to lure her out of the park. Like the rest of us, the reporter was unsuccessful in finding a 7-year-old victim or her family. The story only cited nannies and parents who claim to know that it had happened. But to whom?

The Post story also claimed that "the cops came and told the man to leave the park" but when I spoke to the police, they said that no such thing had happened. That's when it occurred to me that the adjacent Borough of Manhattan Community College security staff wear uniforms similar to police officers, so I went to interview their security management. Indeed, a BMCC officer had come into the park on June 25. I believe that the recent rumors are based on the rather innocent encounter that occurred that day.

One of our park staff—Richard—had increased his observations of adult behavior in the park after the possible incident on May 9. On June 25 he noticed a young college student squirting water guns with a group of kids on the center lawn—they were all chasing each other in circles. Richard approached him and asked if he was a babysitter. He identified himself as a BMCC student and Richard asked him why he was playing with the kids. He said he was just squirting water with them and having fun. He was not touching the kids nor was he asking them to "chase him out of the park" (as had been rumored). Several nannies were standing nearby and watched the student play with their kids. Not one of them said that the student did or said anything inappropriate. Richard wanted to make sure that this situation was as innocent as it seemed—but he had to get back to his other park duties. So he went up to get a security officer from BMCC and asked him to deal with it. The officer took the matter seriously and removed the student from the park, escorting him to the school to be questioned. The security management assured us that they did not think this student had any lurid intentions—he is a good student with no record of any problems at the school. He did not appear to be under the influence of any drugs, nor did not he seem mentally unstable. They told him not to play with kids anymore and sent him home. A formal report was filed with the Dean, as is their protocol. A further background check revealed no history of sexual violence or misconduct.

The student was outraged. He claimed that he just likes kids and only meant to have fun with them. None of the nannies asked him to stop playing with the kids so he didn't know that what he was doing was viewed as wrong in any way. He couldn't believe that this went on his school record with the Dean. He has assured the school that it will not happen again.

I honestly think that this is the "second predator" incident that everyone is panicked about. I also believe that the dramatic removal of the student by BMCC security caused the panic—it must have appeared to others in the park that a dangerous person was being removed, when in fact, no actual danger existed. We are not mind readers and cannot confirm for certain what this young man's intentions might have been. But it seems to me, and to all who interviewed him, that he was guilty only of poor judgment and bad timing.

We are raising children in the largest city in America and that comes with a certain amount of risk. But in this case, the risk existed more in email than in reality. We should be careful about spreading unsubstantiated rumors that may cause unnecessary panic and harm. The story of a student squirting a water gun with kids has passed through a giant game of telephone, and at the other end, he has emerged as a predator who attempted to carry a 3-year-old (or was it a 7-year-old?) out of the park.

We hope that this letter has clarified recent events for all who love our wonderful Washington Market Park. Please continue to use the park safely. Monitor your children: know where they are and with whom they are playing. Most of all, please call 911 if you witness anything suspicious and alert our park staff immediately.

We wish you a safe and enjoyable summer.

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