A pair of Bronx residents say they discovered multiple nooses in Van Cortlandt Park on Thursday night, evoking fears of white supremacist terror on the eve of Juneteenth. But when they reported the disturbing sight to local police, the NYPD claimed the hanging knots were nothing more than harmless string, and declined to open an investigation.
Rafael Pena and Alexandra Haridopolos told Gothamist they observed three nooses hanging from nearby trees after entering the west side of the park near 242nd Street just after 9:30 p.m. on Thursday.
"I looked up and saw a noose hanging," recalled Haridopolos, a 26-year-old Bronx public school teacher. "It felt like it was meant to be seen. The other two were right by a walkway, in very good lighting."
"I've lived in the Bronx all my life and I've never seen something like this," added Pena. "It felt like a message, especially with Juneteenth being today."
A third witness alerted the 50th Precinct, and officers soon arrived at the scene. According to Pena and Haridopolos, the cops did not appear interested in filing a police report.
"It honestly seemed like they were going about it in this routine way, like they didn't really know what they were supposed to do," Pena alleged.
He said officers asked him not to take any more photographs, noting the scene was part of an active investigation.
Asked about the incident on Friday, an NYPD spokesperson initially said there was no record of a police report.
NYPD spokesman Sgt. Vincent Marchese later told Gothamist that a commanding officer believed the apparent nooses were actually "a nylon type string to hold a piñata." He noted they were found in a popular part of the park "where people have gatherings and parties."
Officers with the 50th Precinct responding to reports of a noose
Pena doesn't buy that explanation. He pointed out that rope was hung in a way that would not have made sense for someone trying to pull up a piñata.
"It's clear what this is," added Haridopolos. "Someone knew what they were doing."
Last weekend, another noose was discovered in Harlem's Marcus Garvey Park. The NYPD closed their investigation into that incident this week, claiming the rope was left behind from a construction site. But photos later shared by the Parks Department "appear to contradict that assessment," according to the CITY. When the construction work was completed, the rope was not tied in the shape of a noose.
The Bronx couple linked the appearance of the nooses to the fact that six people of color have been found hanging in trees since the police killing of George Floyd. Among them is Dominique Alexander, a 27-year-old Bronxite who was found hanging in Fort Tryon Park on June 9th. His death has been ruled a suicide, though the NYPD said their investigation is ongoing.
"Just last week you had a young man hung up on a tree in Manhattan," said Pena. "It's really disturbing shit."
A spokesperson for the Parks Department told Gothamist that the agency was looking into the incident.
"There is no room for symbols of hatred and racial bias in our parks," the spokesperson added.
