Residents seek more safety measures near Van Cortlandt Park after reported assault

After police reported a 13-year-old girl was sexually assaulted near one of the busiest entrances to Van Cortlandt Park June 23, residents who live along the Broadway corridor say the incident has brought renewed urgency to concerns they have raised for years about public safety at the park’s northern edge.

For many, the incident was not simply an isolated crime but a reminder of long-standing worries about poorly lit sidewalks and limited surveillance for those walking after dark along a stretch of Broadway bordering Van Cortlandt Park.

Police said the girl was approached while riding a northbound Bx9 bus before getting off near Broadway and West 261st Street around 10 p.m. Investigators initially reported that the suspect grabbed her and dragged her into a wooded section of the park.

However, The Bronx District Attorney’s Office later disputed part of that account, saying the girl was not dragged into the park and instead went with the man willingly.

The office said the man asked the girl for sex, she declined, and the alleged assault followed.

According to police, 36-year-old Abundio Hernandez Cantu of Yonkers was arrested June 29 and charged with rape in connection with the June 23 assault. Cantu was arraigned in criminal court and released under supervised release conditions while the investigation continues, according to the district attorney’s office.

While the differing accounts have altered some details of what occurred, neighbors say the incident has nevertheless focused attention on an area they believe has long needed additional safety measures.

Frida Betances, who has lived a block from Van Cortlandt Park for more than three decades, said residents have voiced concerns about the corridor for years, particularly after dark.

“At the very end of the Bx9, all we have is the park area, and everything is dark,” Betances said.

She said residents routinely walk home through the area after work, students use the Bx9 bus to return from school and families visit the park’s athletic fields throughout the summer, yet the stretch bordering the park remains sparsely lit.

Belinda Hancock, who lives near the final Bx9 stop, said the recent incident heightened concerns she already had about the area after dark.

She said she has encountered people sleeping on nearby benches, at bus stops and occasionally inside the vestibule of her apartment building. But what concerns her most, she said, is the lack of visibility near the bus stop where commuters enter and leave the park.

“When you get off that bus stop, there is almost no light there whatsoever,” Hancock said.

The incident has also prompted local officials to revisit discussions about safety improvements.

Council member Eric Dinowitz told The Press his office is meeting with the Bronx district attorney, the New York City Police Department, the city parks department and the city department of transportation, among other agencies and elected officials, to discuss issues including patrols and lighting in the area.

Dinowitz said his office regularly reports broken streetlights throughout the district but has found the city’s repair process slow and bureaucratic. He also reiterated his long-standing call for a dedicated police command within Van Cortlandt Park, arguing that the city’s third-largest park warrants a permanent patrol presence.

The council member also said it is important that residents understand investigators do not believe the incident was a random attack by a stranger, a conclusion consistent with the Bronx District Attorney’s Office’s account of the case.

Bronx Community Board 8 has similarly pushed for additional NYPD Argus security cameras throughout the district for years, saying they can help investigators identify suspects and provide evidence when crimes occur.

In response to its yearly budget requests for cameras, the city said that funding for such tools falls to elected officials rather than the municipal budget.

Dinowitz said his office has previously funded Argus cameras and is open to additional installations, though he noted they must be implemented in partnership with city agencies responsible for operating and monitoring them.

Not everyone, however, believes the incident is cause for broader concerns in the neighborhood.

Shaheed Shamraz, who has operated a Citgo gas station on West 260th Street for nearly 17 years, described the neighborhood as a welcoming community and said he feels random violent crimes are rare.

“It’s a great area, great local people,” Shamraz said. “I think it’s safe here, people just need to look around them.”

While he questioned whether additional lighting alone could have prevented the assault, he said more security cameras could still prove valuable.

“At least if something happens, it can be captured,” he said.

Just days after speaking with The Press, Shamraz’s station was robbed at gunpoint on July 1, according to police, and the suspect fled with about $200. Still, Shamraz said his overall opinion of the neighborhood had not changed.

The reported assault has also renewed discussion among some community members surrounding a 130-bed men’s shelter expected to open nearby, though authorities have not connected the incident to the planned shelter. Residents who have expressed concerns about public safety in the area have questioned whether the shelter could exacerbate those issues. Others note that the facility could instead provide housing and services for people who currently sleep outdoors along the Broadway corridor.

A spokesperson for the shelter said maintaining neighborhood safety has been a priority throughout planning for the facility. The shelter will include 24-hour security, controlled access, staff on site around the clock and an 11 p.m. curfew. It will also provide case management and connections to housing, employment, health care and other supportive services while working closely with law enforcement and community partners, according to the spokesperson.

For Betances, the larger issue is preserving the sense of security that first brought her family to the neighborhood.

“I just want to make sure that we keep the same thing that I had for my son and for the other children growing up,” she said.

As investigators continue to look into the assault, neighbors say they hope the incident serves as a catalyst for improvements they have sought for years, before another crime forces the same conversation into the light again.