Discussion: Running in Central Park

Running in Central Park in NYC is one of the best run routes I know of. Particularly on weekends, when the drive is closed to traffic, and taken over by runners, bikers and roller-bladers.

I guess the 'dangerous part' you refer to is the north part, from 96th St up to 110th. And that must be based on the attack on the Central Park Jogger almost 30 years ago. Back then, Donald Trump took out ads stating in part:

....Mayor Koch has stated that hate and rancor should be removed from our hearts. I do not think so. I want to hate these muggers and murderers. They should be forced to suffer....The problem with our society is the victim has absolutely no rights and the criminal has unbelievable rights; maybe hate is what we need if we're gonna get something done....

Has anything changed?

Sorry Clark, this is Central Park in Chesterfield, MO (right next to where I work). My old loop came back to work on a road with no shoulder or sidewalk and, while the posted limit is 40, many drive faster. The new loop cuts through a mall parking lot. Still not ideal, but certainly safer since the outer parking spots are never used except around Christmas (and not even much then - I don't think this mall is going to last too much longer).

I don't think any of Central Park NYC is very dangerous. Maybe the north end at night, but even that wouldn't intimidate me much.

Yes, I should have known; when you go to NY State, you usually go to the Finger Lakes area, not Manhattan. But my mistake allowed me to reacquaint myself with that case, and all its injustices. Still interesting and topical.

Indeed. When I was living there (40 years ago, not 30), going north of 96th was not a particularly good idea for a white person. I've been back several times in the last 10 years and it's nothing like that now.

Well my rhetorical question in my original post wasn't about NYC or walking in Central Park. It was about our current president, and his knee-jerk reaction to sow hate.

As humans have found, trying control their environment or other humans, obtaining a positive outcome is often counter-intuitive, and requires understanding and a scientific approach...as I'm sure you'll agree.

For instance, trapping, poisoning or shooting rats in the city just means more food for more litters of youngsters. And the problem escalates. Ending the fearful drought in California two years ago just meant more fuel for the dreadful fires this year. Going to war in Iraq in retaliation for the 9/11 terrorist attacks, resulted in ISIS, a stronger al-Qaida, and more terrorism popping up all over.

And now Trump is slamming our borders closed to free trade, and surrounding himself with hawks and war-mongers? Perhaps the writing was on the wall 30 years ago. Indeed, has anything changed?

Don't you go turning my training log into a political forum! But, I'd say I agree with most of what you said.

Yeah I realize I was pushing it. You apparently like to keep a low-profile on a/p. And I don't know your politics. Plus your log doesn't have the disclaimer that mine and others post:

This is an UNCENSORED comments section. You are free to disagree with or ridicule anything I (or others) may write here, without fear of deletion. However, I reserve the right to dispute, disagree or contend otherwise.

So go ahead and delete my diatribe if you wish...or the whole thread. In refreshing my memory of the Central Park Jogger case, I just couldn't believe the similarities about Trump's ad campaign then...and his behavior as President now.

No offense taken; it's not disagreement that I worry about, but rather the nature of the discourse. Online political discussions tend to get nasty quickly and I don't need that kind of hate in my life. I've shut down a few training-related discussions for the same reason. The anonymity of the keyboard seems to drain people of the ability to see other views as legitimate. (Of course, some people can't do that in real life, either).