The Creepiest Central Park Stories and Legends
- 1
The Unsolved Murder of a Jogger
- Photo:
- AlexVan
- Pixabay
In September 1995, a 44-year-old jogger named Maria Alves was found dead in Central Park. Investigators believed that she was attacked as she ran on East Drive near Lasker Rink, then pulled down a nearby embankment. Her attacker sexually assaulted and killed her, and her body was discovered hours later under a bridge near East Drive, facedown in a stream. Her killer was never caught.
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- 2
A Potty-Mouth Elmo with a Disturbing Past
It's not uncommon for folks to dress up like various characters and pose with tourists and kids in Central Park for cash. But in the summer of 2012, a man who identified himself as Adam Sandler (not to be confused with the comedian Adam Sandler) and was dressed up as Sesame Street's Elmo, was escorted from the park when he was caught yelling anti-Semitic statements. He was not arrested, but taken to a hospital for a mental health check.
Things only got stranger from there when Sandler was discovered to have previously been deported from Cambodia by local authorities for running an X-rated website called Welcome to Rape Camp.
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The So-Called Suicide Cave
- Photo:
- T. C. Roche
- Wikimedia Commons
The Ramble is 38 acres of serene woodland, and in it is the Ramble Cave, also known as the Indian cave. The cave has since been sealed, but it was once the site of suicides and other unfortunate events. For example, the Times reported that in 1929, 355 men were arrested for "annoying women" in Central Park, and the majority of them were doing it at the cave.
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- 4
Central Park's Weirdest Tour Guide Comes Out at Night
On the right night, at the right time, you might get the chance to go on a night-time tour with Bernard Herman. He is actually musician Barkev Gulesserian, but becomes the bizarre Herman character when leading his Haunted New York tours, according to the Village Voice. These one-on-one jaunts through Central Park may or may not involve handcuffs and being blindfolded. And they're cheap: the last one, held around Halloween, apparently cost "$9 or 9 pennies and a piece of bedding."
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The Frankenfish Invaded the Waters (And Land) of Central Park
- Photo:
- Wie146
- Wikimedia Commons
The snakehead fish, better known for its ghastly visage as the Frankenfish, terrorized Central Park in 2013. Those who chose to fish at Harlem Meer were warned not to release a captured Frankenfish back into the wild, but rather "kill it immediately, freeze it and report your catch," according to New York magazine. While the species mainly eats frogs and crayfish—not people or pets—it is an extremely invasive species not native to New York. They can also breathe air, and are capable of surviving out of water for up to four days at a time.
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- 6
A Terrible Murder in 1986
![A Terrible Murder in 1986]()
- Photo:
On August 26, 1986, 19-year-old Robert Emmet Chambers, Jr. strangled 18-year-old Jennifer Levin in Central Park. Her body was found by a passerby riding a bike near the Metropolitan Museum of Art near Fifth Avenue and 83rd Street. Chambers was arrested and nicknamed the Preppie Killer for his affluent upbringing and appearance. He was convicted of Levin's murder, despite his attempts to claim Levin's death was an accident that stemmed from rough sex.
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