The Loeb Boathouse opened its doors once again on Saturday, or at least part of it, following the extensive work that was done after it closed toward the end of last year. Crushed by skyrocketing costs for labor and goods, the restaurant closed down in Oct. 2022, with all 163 employees at the restaurant laid off. That’s when the city’s Park’s Department started looking for a new operator.

They found a familiar and homegrown company to take over operating the boathouse: Legends Hospitality, which does the concessions at Yankee Stadium, One World Observatory and other venues throughout the country. They committed more than $3 million to overhaul the 150-year-old property, saying that they wanted to “restore it to its natural grandeur.”

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One planned change coming with the 10-year deal: Legends said they will start offering advanced ticketing for boat rentals, and debit and credit will be accepted. Boat rentals are expected to return later in the summer.

For now, the Boathouse Café was the first portion to officially reopen. The restaurant’s main dining room and bar are slated to be ready to go in the fall.

According to the license agreement between the city and Legends, the new restaurant is set to offer brunch, lunch and dinner options at the dining room, as well as market options that are more geared toward grab-and-go items. The brunch would include standard staples (spinach and cheese omelet, brioche French toast, quiche, cinnamon bun, etc.) while the lunch menu featured sandwiches, burgers and salads, as well as few entrees.

The dinner menu featured a variety of different options, including lamb loin, duck ragout, USDA prime filet, grilled salmon, a pork chop, chicken, New York strip and a Chilean sea bass. There were also dessert items listed: honey buttermilk panna cotta, Dulcey blonde chocolate tart and black velvet cake.

The market would offer breakfast sandwiches in the morning, as well as pizzas and bowls in the afternoon, along with a kids menu.

The location, New York City’s only lakefront venue that has been home to countless dates and weddings, was immortalized in several big Hollywood films, including “When Harry Met Sally” and the 1962 political thriller “The Manchurian Candidate.”

Even New York City Mayor Eric Adams has a history with the boathouse.

“In my rookie years, I didn’t have a lot of money, and nothing was more romantic than being able to rent a boat,” he said at a press conference in February. “It has been a landmark for generations in New York City.”

The mayor the return of the restaurant would bring back 200 union jobs.

The baffling incident occurred in the area around 106th Street and Fifth Avenue, a spot popular with dog walkers. NBC New York spoke to a man who said that he and his wife were walking their 13-year-old German shepherd-pit bull mix named Eli and their other dog, Sadie, on leashes in the area around 8:30 p.m. Saturday.

The man, who only wished to be identified as Brian, said they walked by a man with three pit bulls, at least two of which were unleashed.

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“One of his dogs tried to bite my little dog and he tried to tell me that it’s OK. And I tried to talk sense into him,” Brian told News 4.

He and the man started to argue, as his dogs attacked Eli.

“I kicked one of the dogs off my dog at one point,” Brian said. “But then he took out a knife and started carving. And my dog growled. He stuck him…and I was helpless at that time.”

Brian said he took a photo of the man as he walked away (below). The couple then took their dog to the veterinarian, where Eli had to be put down.

“He’s a great dog, you know. He’s my boy,” Brian said.

Several dog owners in the area said they’ll now be even more cautious when walking their dogs at that location, and they’re also asking for more protection. Many expressed hope that the man who stabbed Eli is soon caught.

No arrests have yet been made. An investigation was ongoing, according to police.

Cooper is a lifelong birder, and Black, a relative rarity for the pastime. The dog owner is Amy Cooper, who is white and no relation. His video of her pleading with a 911 operator to “send the cops” because, she falsely claimed, an African American man was threatening her life has been viewed more than 45 million times on social media.

Much has happened to each Cooper since.

She was fired by an investment firm and a judge tossed her lawsuit challenging the dismissal. Later, a misdemeanor charge against her was dropped after she completed a program on racial bias.

He scored a memoir, out this week, and has his own series on Nat Geo Wild, traveling the U.S. doing what he loves most: birding. “Extraordinary Birder with Christian Cooper” premieres Saturday.

Something else happened the day the two Coopers clashed. Just hours later, George Floyd was killed under the knee of a white police officer more than 1,000 miles away in Minneapolis. They had no way of knowing that, of course, but Christian Cooper told The Associated Press in a recent interview he had another Black man, Philando Castile, on his mind when he flipped his phone camera to record.

Castile was fatally shot in the Minneapolis area in 2016 by an officer who wrongly thought the 32-year-old was reaching for a gun during a traffic stop. Castile’s girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, had the presence of mind to hit record on her phone, and her livestream on Facebook touched off protests around the country. (The officer who shot Castile was acquitted by a jury.)

Christian Cooper’s decision to record was personal but routine for birders trying to convince park officials to do something about dogs off leashes where signs clearly prohibited it to protect plantings in The Ramble and leave the birds undisturbed. He was polite but firm as he spoke off-camera while Amy Cooper raged.

“I thought to myself, you know what? They’re going to shoot us dead no matter what we do. And if that’s the case, I’m going out with my dignity intact,” he told the AP.

For a second, he added, “I was like, oh, yeah, when a white woman accuses a Black man, I know what that means. I know what trouble that can mean in my life. Maybe I should just stop recording and maybe this will all go away in a split second. Then I thought, nah, I’m not going to be complicit in my own dehumanization.”

Amy Cooper never apologized directly to him, though she issued a statement of regret. And since then, Christian Cooper has done some soul-searching on what it must be like, at least sometimes, for women to feel unsafe in public outdoor spaces.

“I would hate to think that I would go through a situation like that and not learn something myself. And so I try to keep in mind now that, yes, I’m perfectly comfortable in The Ramble. It’s my happy place. But that’s not necessarily true of everyone,” he said.

Amy Cooper demanded he stop recording, upset when he offered her cocker spaniel, Henry, a dog treat. It’s a tactic controversial among birders frustrated by unleashed dogs in The Ramble. “It’s a very in-your-face move. You know, no bones about that. I haven’t done it since,” he said.

He declined to cooperate with prosecutors in the criminal case against Amy Cooper. It was an election cycle, he said, so it felt performative. But also, he felt, she had been punished enough through public disgrace.

“I decided I kind of have to err on the side of mercy, particularly weighing with that a sense of proportionality because I had not been harmed. I had not been thrown to the ground by the police or, God forbid, worse. I had never even had to interact with the police. I’m sure my opinion would be different if I had,” he said.

Now, Cooper is all about spreading the gospel of birding once again. His book, “Better Living through Birding: Notes from a Black Man in the Natural World,” opens with the Central Park encounter, and then launches into his life:

How birding helped him connect to the world as a closeted gay child in his predominantly white Long Island hometown. How all things Star Trek, science fiction and Marvel Comics have sustained him to this day, at age 60.

“The cure to my outsider status was to go outside, outside of myself, outside of my own head, outside into nature. Because you can’t go looking for birds without really focusing on what you’re doing, and focusing on the natural world around you,” he said.

“And when you do that, you can’t be preoccupied anymore about, ‘Oh my God, I feel so horrible.’”

As a longtime board member of the New York City Audubon Society, Cooper has seen the ranks of Black birders increase, and he has participated in a movement among National Audubon Society chapters to cast off the name of John James Audubon. The 19th-century artist and naturalist known for his paintings of North American bird species was an anti-abolitionist who owned, purchased and sold enslaved people.

Cooper’s chapter of the society is in the process of coming up with a new name, though the parent organization declined to do the same.

With his book, Cooper said, “I hope to reach a whole mass of people who have never really thought about birds or maybe haven’t engaged with nature on that level. If I can communicate some of my passion for birding, for birds, and get them to sort of open their awareness just a little bit more to these creatures around them, because they are spectacular, then the book will have achieved its goal.”

On Nat Geo (the series hits Disney+ on June 21), Cooper serves as host and was a consulting producer. He’s a kid in a wonderful, winged candy shop.

The six episodes have him scaling a Manhattan bridge tagging peregrine falcon chicks, navigating volcanic terrain in Hawaii in search of elusive honeycreepers, and trekking rainforests in Puerto Rico to check on fertility issues among parrots. He also shot in Palm Springs, California, and Washington, D.C., as well as Selma, Alabama, where members of his father’s family once lived.

Cooper has spent time in public schools teaching kids about birding. He wants to reach even more with the fame he earned the hard way.

“I’m hopeful that a lot of young Black kids will see maybe one of the first big birding shows on TV with a black host leading the show and think, ‘Oh, maybe that’s something I can do, too.’ That would be awesome.”

This year, there will be more than 80 free and benefit shows from June through September in Central Park and 12 other neighborhood parks across the five boroughs, the City Parks Foundation announced Tuesday. The 2023 season kicks off on Saturday June 10 with a free Central Park concert from eight-piece soul band St. Paul and the Broken Bones.

Some of the biggest names on this year’s list of performers includes Grandmaster Flash, Kool & The Gang, Tanya Tucker, Skip Marley, Noel Gallagher, Garbage and many, many more.

This season celebrates the 50th anniversary of hip-hop, the foundation said in a press release, but will feature a variety of genres including salsa, jazz, hip-hop, indie rock, reggae, Afrobeats, soul, pop, global, contemporary dance and more.

To view the full lineup and schedule of shows, click here.

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Juan Garcia, 24, was picked up by police two weeks after the April 6 surprise attack near the park’s reservoir. Officials say the Bronx man repeatedly bashed the woman’s head up against a tree.

The 55-year-old woman was taking a morning walk when a stranger approached to strike up a conversation, police have said.

That conversation did not appear to go well, because the man proceeded to attack the woman around 6 a.m. Police say he took her head and smashed it against a nearby tree several times.

The man took off and reportedly jumped on a blue CitiBike and pedaled off on the 86th Street Transverse headed for the east side.

Police say the woman was picked up by medics and treated at a nearby hospital.

Garcia was arrested Friday night on an assault charge. Information for his attorney was not immediately known.

The 55-year-old woman was taking a sunrise walk Thursday morning near the park’s reservoir when the perp approached to strike up a conversation, police say.

That conversation did not appear to go well, because the man proceeded to attack the woman around 6 a.m. Police say he took her head and smashed it against a nearby tree several times.

The man, not yet identified by authorities, took off. He reportedly jumped on a blue CitiBike and pedaled off on the 86th Street Transverse headed for the east side.

Police say the woman was picked up by medics and treated at a nearby hospital.

The department released the first look at the suspect on Saturday, circulating a sketch of the attacker wanted in the attack two days prior.

He is described as an adult male, roughly 5-foot-4, 140 pounds, dark close-cut hair, and a blemish on the left side of his face. He was also wearing a dark blue jacket.

The largest pickleball installation in the Northeast opened up Friday at Central Park‘s Wollman Rink, a months-long transformation that’ll offer players of all skill levels access to the popularly revived, and now globally trending sport.

The rink has been turned into 14 pickleball courts offering 196 hours of play a day, according to CityPickle, which is running the installation and celebrated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday. Each court can accommodate four to eight people at a time. Hours of operation are 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. The installation stays through Oct. 9.

Pickleball exploded in popularity last year, thanks in part to support from the likes of LeBron James, Tom Brady and more than 36 million other Americans. It’s the fastest-growing sport in the U.S., CityPickle says.

Confused about what it is? CityPickle explains, “It combines elements of tennis, badminton and ping-pong on a badminton-size court that requires a net, paddle and wiffle ball. Enjoying a day of pickleball requires no existing knowledge of the game.”

Great, no existing prior knowledge required: Where can we sign up?

You can just show up at Central Park and try to get a court, but CityPickle recommends booking in advance. Walk-ins are subject to availability. How much does it cost? You’ve got options:

• Court reservations (up to 8 players): $80 per court per hour (Off-Peak) / $120 per court per hour (Peak)
• Open play: $20 per player per hour (Off-Peak) / $30 per player per hour (Peak)
• Community play: $5 per player per hour (Free rental paddle included!)
• Clinic: $40 per player per hour

Peak hours are 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday and all day Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Off-peak hours are 10 a.m. through 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday.

Have more questions? Check out CityPickle’s FAQ page here.

CityPickle has run similar pop-up installations at Hudson Yards and the TWA Hotel. It plans to open a permanent location this spring at its Long Island City facility, which will feature a bar and restaurant along with indoor courts.

Here’s a sneak preview of that one:

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Central Park’s Wollman Rink is transforming into the city’s biggest pickleball destination for the spring and summer. From April 7 to Oct. 9, the rink will offer daily play between 14 new dazzling courts.

Each of the courts can fit four to eight people apiece, and will be open every day from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Renting a full court costs between $80 and $120 per hour, the latter price is for peak time slots.

According to the program’s website, players of any level can access lessons, clinics, open play and league play.

The Wollman Rink installation, run by CityPickle, follows similar pop-ups at Hudson Yards and the TWA hotel. Online reservations for the Central Park run opened March 31.

Fans of the sport may be happy to learn that CityPickle plans to open a permanent location this spring. The Long Island City facility is expected to have a bar and restaurant, in addition to indoor courts.

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The Central Park Conservancy, the nonprofit that oversees daily Central Park care and fundraising as well as capital work management, announced the interactive map on Wednesday. Its expert arborists take care of more than 170 tree species in the park daily and will provide real-time info on color peaks we supposedly can’t get anywhere else.

“Ranging from deep magenta to pale pink to crisp white, Central Park’s cherry trees are a must-see in spring. Their blossoms are beautiful, but these flowers are fleeting—and with this year’s warm winter, they’re blooming much earlier than usual,” the Conservancy said in a statement. 

Peak bloom is typically in the last week of March, though as the Conservancy indicated, it is expected to come early this year. The Washington Post expects peak bloom to hit DC, home to the cherry blossom festival, before March 25 this season because of the rate at which the blooms have been developing (i.e. much faster than usual this season). Cold weather could slow the process down, though, and since we’ve got some heading our way, you’ve likely got time.

The Central Park tracker (see the full map here) offers the following:

• Where to Go: Based on six key locations, whether east or west of the Reservoir, overlooking Cherry Hill, or just south of the Great Lawns
• When to Go: Based on the Conservancy’s color-coded system outlining what areas are pre-peak, peak and post-peak
• What to See: From the graceful weeping boughs of the Higan to the delicate white blooms of the Yoshino

For those seeking a more off-the-beaten-path spot to enjoy cherry blossoms in the city, try The Green-Wood Cemetery.

The 478-acre cemetery in Brooklyn isn’t just a national historic landmark. Fun fact: It was described as the borough’s first public park long before Prospect Park came around and became so popular it inspired the creation of that expanse, as well as the one that would eventually become Central Park.

And it happens to be a superb place to see those gorgeous cherry blossoms, with nearly 200 of the beloved trees peppered throughout its landscape. Learn more here. The Brooklyn Botanic Garden has ample trees, too.

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Today is the day many runners have been waiting for — the day they find out if they were selected for the 2023 TCS New York City Marathon.

Wednesday is Drawing Day! Where the slots drawing takes place and runners are notified of their status.

The New York Road Runners unveiled key dates for the 2023 TCS New York City Marathon in January, with the big event scheduled to take place on Nov. 5.

New York Road Runners (NYRR) notes that if runners do not receive entry via the drawing, they can still apply here.

The TCS New York City Marathon is one of the city’s most iconic sporting events, attracting runners and spectators of all backgrounds, ages, and abilities from around the world. Last year, the marathon made its triumphant return to full capacity with nearly 50,000 runners after a pandemic pause.

For more information and to apply for the 2023 TCS New York City Marathon, visit tcsnycmarathon.org.

The registration process for the 2023 NYC Marathon, which kicked off last month, was not a smooth process, as many experienced technical issues.

In a series of tweets, starting Feb. 8, TCS New York City Marathon, the organization behind the famed sporting event, admitted its team was made aware of the issues that came up during the first day of the entry drawing due to the high demand.

“Our teams are currently aware of issues affecting the registration process,” TCS New York City Marathon tweeted Feb. 8. “The drawing and entry-claim period is not first come, first served and is open until February 22. Please come back and try again later today, as we are aiming to have this resolved as soon as possible.”

A few hours later, the organization continued to experience delays due to high demand and, once again, issued a clarification that that the entry claim period was “NOT first-come, first-served” but rather it was open for the next two weeks — a period of time in which those interested could apply or claim their entry.

The following day, TCS New York Marathon further explained its application process, in a tweet thread saying that applications will be processed within 48 hours and those who have entered the drawing, which will take place March 1, should not attempt to re-enter. Once processed, your runner’s dashboard should reflect the race in the “Upcoming Events” section and a confirmation email will also be sent out.

Additionally, runners who do not gain entry through the non-NYRR time qualifying method were automatically moved into the drawing.

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No injuries were reported in the Park Lane New York hotel blaze, which started in a second-floor kitchen and extended to the third and fourth floors through ductwork, according to officials.

Firefighters had the fire under control by about 4:15 a.m., less than two hours after getting the initial call.

No other details were immediately available.

Would Flaco, a majestic Eurasian eagle-owl, go hungry because he hadn’t developed an ability to hunt while in captivity?

With a collective sigh of relief, the answer was a resounding no: It appears Flaco has regained his killer instincts and is becoming an old hand at swooping down from his lofty perch to feed on the park’s bounty of rats.

As a result, Zoo officials announced that they were suspending recovery operations, at least for now, but will keep a close eye on the owl’s health.

“We are going to continue monitoring Flaco and his activities and to be prepared to resume recovery efforts if he shows any sign of difficulty or distress,” Zoo officials said in a statement.

The bird’s name in Spanish means “skinny,” and it seemed he was in danger of living up to his name in the early days of his escape because he hadn’t been seen eating. But when he started coughing up fur and bones, it sparked excitement — proof that he had been hunting and eating.

Officials acknowledged that recovering Flaco had proven difficult, especially “since he has been very successful at hunting and consuming the abundant prey in the park.”

The Eurasian eagle-owl is one of the larger owl species, with a wingspan of up to 79 inches (2 meters), according to the Wildlife Conservation Society. They have large talons and distinctive ear tufts.

Despite evidence that Flaco had been dining on rodents, the task of capturing him went on.

Most recently, zoo officials tried to lure Flaco with bait and recordings of eagle-owl calls. He showed some interest but didn’t fall for the ruse.

The search for Flaco was launched Feb. 2 after the discovery that vandals had cut stainless steel meshing at the bird’s enclosure.

Flaco has made his rounds of upper Manhattan but hasn’t strayed too far from the park. He flew to the nearby shopping hub of Fifth Avenue, where police officers tried to catch him and failed. He captivated audiences wherever he went, including a visit to the park’s skating rink. Twitter has been aflutter with sightings, and the hashtag #freeflaco, as well as an online petition to keep him free, soon took flight.

“Flaco has been doing well in Central Park. And that’s amazing. He’s made a remarkable move from being a captive owl to being in the wild much faster than anyone would have expected,” said David Barrett, who runs the birding Twitter accounts Manhattan Bird Alert, Brooklyn Bird Alert and Bronx Bird Alert.

“He’s catching prey on his own. He continues to fly better and better,” he said. “He seems to be enjoying himself out there.”

Eurasian eagle-owl’s aren’t native to North America, so Flaco would have to fly across the ocean to find his own kind in the wild. He was less than a year old when he made his home at the Central Park Zoo in 2010.

Owls are mostly solitary animals and usually only interact with another animal during breeding season.

“Is he going to be lonely out there? That’s a good question,” said Barrett.

The Wildlife Conservation Society issued an update Friday on the Eurasian eagle owl, which has dominated local avian headlines since someone damaged his Central Park Zoo habitat earlier this month and he escaped. In its statement, the zoo says staff tried Thursday night to lure Flaco with bait and eagle owl calls, but the bird didn’t go for it.

“Though he showed some interest in the calls, the attempt was unsuccessful,” the Central Park Zoo statement said. “As we noted previously, efforts at recovering the bird have proven more difficult since he has been very successful at hunting and consuming the abundant prey in the park.”

“We are going to continue monitoring Flaco and his activities and to be prepared to resume recovery efforts if he shows any sign of difficulty or distress,” the statement added. “We will issue additional updates if there is a change in the eagle owl’s status or our plan changes.”

Flaco’s initial escape to Manhattan’s 5th Avenue on Feb. 2 caught the surprise and attention of onlookers, as well as the NYPD. The owl later went back to the park and despite earlier concerns, now appears to be eating in the wild.

It’s still not clear who vandalized Flaco’s exhibit. That investigation is ongoing.

The target date for the Loeb Boathouse, home to countless dates and weddings, is for summer 2023. The location, New York City’s only lakefront venue, has been immortalized in several big Hollywood films, including “When Harry Met Sally” and the 1962 political thriller “The Manchurian Candidate.”

Even New York City Mayor Eric Adams has a history with the boathouse.

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“In my rookie years, I didn’t have a lot of money, and nothing was more romantic than being able to rent a boat,” he said at a press conference Thursday. “It has been a landmark for generations in New York City.”

Crushed by skyrocketing costs for labor and goods, the Loeb Boathouse closed down in Oct. 2022, with all 163 employees at the restaurant laid off. That’s when the city’s Park’s Department started looking for a new operator.

“We knew that the work that needed to be done, had to be done quickly, so this great attraction wouldn’t be closed for long,” said Parks Deputy Commissioner Iris Rodriguez-Rosa.

They found a familiar and homegrown company to take over operating the boathouse: Legends Hospitality, which does the concessions at Yankee Stadium, One World Observatory and other venues throughout the country. They have committed more than $3 million to overhaul the property.

“Our approach is to restore it to its natural grandeur,” said Richard Porteus of Legends Hospitality.

One planned change: Legends says they will start offering advanced ticketing for boat rentals, and debit and credit will be accepted.

“We’ll work on the boat rental program and provide a complete refresh of all menus and all concepts throughout the property,” said Porteus. “As a lifelong New Yorker, I’ve been here many times and can’t wait to restore this iconic property.”

According to the license agreement between the city and Legends, the new restaurant would offer brunch, lunch and dinner options at the dining room, as well as market options that are more geared toward grab-and-go items. The brunch would include standard staples (spinach and cheese omelet, brioche French toast, quiche, cinnamon bun, etc.) while the lunch menu featured sandwiches, burgers and salads, as well as few entrees.

The dinner menu featured a variety of different options, including lamb loin, duck ragout, USDA prime filet, grilled salmon, a pork chop, chicken, New York strip and a Chilean sea bass. There were also dessert items listed: honey buttermilk panna cotta, Dulcey blonde chocolate tart and black velvet cake.

The market would offer breakfast sandwiches in the morning, as well as pizzas and bowls in the afternoon, along with a kids menu.

The mayor the return of the restaurant would bring back 200 union jobs. The city still has to rubber stamp the agreement on a 10-year-lease.

Flaco, the Eurasian eagle-owl who previously called Central Park Zoo home, has been crashing in the park since someone damaged the animal’s habitat, allowing the owl to fly free.

A brief flight to Manhattan’s 5th Avenue caught the surprise and attention of onlookers, as well as the NYPD, who attempted to secure the owl but were ultimately unsuccessful. Flaco took off back for Central Park.

In the week that followed, concern boiled over as observers tasked with tracking his movements failed to catch the owl eating in the wild.

“It probably won’t be eating on its own in Central Park, as it’s been a captive owl. It probably won’t have the skills needed to hunt, although it might,” David Barrett, who runs the popular bird watching Twitter account “Manhattan Bird Alert,” said last week.

Good news finally came this past weekend after zoo staff finally observed Flaco hunting in the park.

“Several days ago, we observed him successfully hunting, catching and consuming prey. We have seen a rapid improvement in his flight skills and ability to confidently maneuver around the park,” a zoo spokesperson said Sunday.

Max Pulsinelli, the zoo spokesperson, said recovery strategies have failed to produce a positive outcome and his adjustment to the wild means staff needs to “rethink our approach.” But between the zoo staff and bird watchers “out in force,” they are positive Flaco’s safety remains intact.

Flaco escaped Feb. 2 under the cover of night after the bird’s exhibit was vandalized and its stainless steel mesh was cut.

If you were hoping to register for the 2023 NYC Marathon and you experienced issues during the registration process, you are not alone.

In a series of tweets, TCS New York City Marathon, the organization behind the famed sporting event, admitted its team was made aware of the issues that came up during the first day of the entry drawing Wednesday, due to the high demand.

“Our teams are currently aware of issues affecting the registration process,” TCS New York City Marathon tweeted Wednesday. “The drawing and entry-claim period is not first come, first served and is open until February 22. Please come back and try again later today, as we are aiming to have this resolved as soon as possible.”

A few hours later, the organization continued to experience delays due to high demand and, once again, issued a clarification that that the entry claim period was “NOT first-come, first-served” but rather it was open for the next two weeks — a period of time in which those interested could apply or claim their entry.

On Thursday, TCS New York Marathon further explained its application process, in a tweet thread saying that applications will be processed within 48 hours and those who have entered the drawing, which will take place March 1, should not attempt to re-enter. Once processed, your runner’s dashboard should reflect the race in the “Upcoming Events” section and a confirmation email will also be sent out.

Additionally, runners who do not gain entry through the non-NYRR time qualifying method will be automatically moved into the drawing.

The New York Road Runners unveiled key dates for the 2023 TCS New York City Marathon last month.

Although the big event is scheduled to take place on Nov. 5, the application for the 2023 TCS New York City Marathon entry drawing includes dates that are fast approaching.

The application for the 2023 TCS New York City Marathon entry drawing includes the following dates:

Important Dates for Runners

• February 8: Application for the entry drawing opens at 12:00 p.m. ET
• February 22: Application window closes at 11:59 p.m. ET
• March 1: Drawing takes place and runners are notified of their status

New York Road Runners (NYRR) notes that if runners do not receive entry via the drawing, they can still apply here.

The TCS New York City Marathon is one of the city’s most iconic sporting events, attracting runners and spectators of all backgrounds, ages, and abilities from around the world. Last year, the marathon made its triumphant return to full capacity with nearly 50,000 runners after a pandemic pause.

For more information and to apply for the 2023 TCS New York City Marathon, visit tcsnycmarathon.org.

This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.

Central Park Zoo officials first noticed trouble around 8:30 p.m. when the bird’s exhibit had been vandalized and its stainless steel mesh was cut. Flaco, they realized, was missing.

A team was quickly assembled and dispatched in search of the bird. Luckily, they didn’t have to look too far before Flaco was spotted just outside the park on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue.

The eurasian eagle owl caught the attention of onlookers (lucky enough to get an up-close view without paying for a ticket) after Flaco landed on the sidewalk near Fifth Avenue and East 60th Street. Attempts to corral the bird were unsuccessful and he flew off to a nearby tree.

Zoo staff found the owl perched in the tree, not far from his home, and kept a close watch all night. The zoo said staff stayed on hand until around sunrise, when Flaco made his next move.

The owl headed for the park, “where we continue to have visual contact with the bird,” the zoo said.

And that’s where the owl was last spotted Friday, near Sixth Avenue and Central Park South. Central’s Park’s Urban Park Rangers were keeping an eye on the bird. While its name, Flaco, is Spanish for skinny, the primary concern is making sure it has enough food to eat and getting it recovered quickly.

“The near-term concern is that it probably won’t be eating, so it would be good to get it captured as soon as possible,” said David Barrett, who runs the popular bird watching Twitter account “Manhattan Bird Alert. “It probably won’t be eating on its own in Central Park, as it’s been a captive owl. It probably won’t have the skills needed to hunt, although it might. There are a lot of rats and rodents in Central Park.”

Barrett said the owl is used to cold weather since its natural habitat is the mountains.

The Hallet Nature Sanctuary, where Flaco normally is kept, was closed while crews worked to safely return the owl.

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The New York Road Runners unveiled key dates for the 2023 TCS New York City Marathon on Monday.

Although the big event is scheduled to take place on Nov. 5, the application for the 2023 TCS New York City Marathon entry drawing includes dates that are fast approaching.

The application for the 2023 TCS New York City Marathon entry drawing includes the following dates:

Important Dates for Runners

• February 8: Application for the entry drawing opens at 12:00 p.m. ET
• February 22: Application window closes at 11:59 p.m. ET
• March 1: Drawing takes place and runners are notified of their status

New York Road Runners (NYRR) notes that if runners do not receive entry via the drawing, they can still apply here.

Also, on Monday, the NYRR launched a new logo and brand identity for the world-renown marathon.

The new design is “simpler and bolder,” according to NYRR, by keeping the elements of the original logo but modernizing its aesthetic. In the updated design, the stripes of the five boroughs converge into Lady Liberty, and the colors reflect the official flag of New York.

“The TCS New York City Marathon is unlike any other marathon – it is the biggest, the boldest, and the most diverse,” CEO for NYRR, Rob Simmelkjaer, said. “As NYRR embarks on its next chapter, the organization has created a new dynamic brand identity and campaign aimed to match the emotions and energy the marathon brings each year.”

The new brand campaign and identity will launch when runners start applying for entry to the marathon, according to NYRR.

The TCS New York City Marathon is one of the city’s most iconic sporting events, attracting runners and spectators of all backgrounds, ages, and abilities from around the world. Last year, the marathon made its triumphant return to full capacity with nearly 50,000 runners after a pandemic pause.

For more information and to apply for the 2023 TCS New York City Marathon, visit tcsnycmarathon.org.

Fire officials received a call about the spill just after 7 p.m. Tuesday, and responded to the scene near West 66th Street, the FDNY said.

It was not immediately clear what caused the spill, but the fire department said the leak had been capped and was being mitigated.

No injuries were reported.

They arrived in the chill of a late fall morning, some singing hymns, to dedicate a park entry to the men once known as the Central Park Five, but now remembered as the Exonerated Five.

The entryway, located on the northern perimeter of the park between Fifth Avenue and Malcolm X Boulevard, will be known as the “Gate of the Exonerated.” It commemorates the miscarriage of justice that not only befell the five men, organizers say, but the unknown others who might have been wrongly imprisoned.

“This is a moment. This is legacy time,” said one of the men, Yusef Salaam.

“We are here because we persevere,” he said to a cheering crowd.

Monday was the first time Raymond Santana, another of the men, now in his 40s, has returned to Central Park since that fateful day 33 years ago.

Santana was 14 and Salaam was 16 when they and three others — Kevin Richardson, 14; Korey Wise, 16; and Antron McCray, 15 — were wrongly tried for the rape of a 28-year-old woman, whose brutal attack left her with permanent injuries and no memory of the assault. The high-profile incident prompted police to round up Black and Brown men and boys in connection with the rape.

“We were babies, who had no dealing with the law. Never knew what Miranda was,” said Santana, as he recounted a time of confusion when police rustled him up and began interrogating him.

Matias Reyes, a murderer and serial rapist already in prison, would later confess to the crime.

Soon after, the convictions of the Central Park Five were thrown out in 2002 after the men served six to 13 years in prison.

“It needs to be known what we went through. We went to hell and back,” said Richardson. “We have these scars that nobody sees.”

The three men — Wise and McCray could not attend — spoke about how the criminal justice system is stacked against people of color.

The gate, they said, would stand as reminder of the injustice of the past but also of those still being committed today.

“This is an important time right here — the Gate of the Exonerated, this is for everybody,” Richardson said. “Everybody that’s been wronged by cops.”

The modest remembrance — words etched in stone on a waist-high wall — was years in the making.

Other entrances to the park have been labeled to reflect groups of people who live and work in the city, with names like Artisans’ Gate, Scholars’ Gate and Strangers’ Gate.

Mayor Eric Adams, who was just starting his career as a New York City police officer during the 1989 episode, arrived to the ceremony to pay tribute to the men.

“To these soldiers here, you personify the Black male experience,” the mayor, who is also Black, said to the men.

Alvin Bragg, who now leads the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, apologized for their ordeal.

“The truth is we shouldn’t be here today,” he said, alluding to past mistakes.

The attacker, who exclaimed “Kanye 2024” after delivering antisemitic remarks, struck the victim from behind Wednesday evening around 7:30 p.m., according to authorities.

Police said the 63-year-old victim was walking near Terrace Drive and East Drive when the unknown assailant approached, striking the man and sending him to the ground.

In addition to a broken hand, the NYPD said the man chipped a tooth after falling to the ground.

Photos of the alleged suspect were circulated by the police department days after the attack. The suspect left the area on his bicycle, which was hooked to a trailer with a sign reading “Hungry Disabled.”

Police are looking for a man in his 40s with a medium build, last seen wearing a brown jacket, beige pants, white sneakers and a multi-colored hat.

Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, has been condemned for recent antisemitic tirades. He recently posted an image of a swastika on Twitter, resulting in his suspension from the platform.

“Gate of the Exonerated” will be inscribed in sandstone at the northern end of the park, at 110th Street and Malcolm X Boulevard, following a three-year effort that grew out of discussions within the community, John Reddick of the Central Park Conservancy told the board.

Sharonne Salaam, whose then 15-year-old son Yusef Salaam was among the five Black and Latino men convicted, said the inscription along a perimeter wall will remind people of the challenges all wrongfully convicted people face in starting over after their release.

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“This gate of the exonerated will be … the first of its kind within the United States and possibly in the world that speaks to the idea of exoneration of people,” she testified during the City Hall hearing.

“When you look at that concept, you say to yourself, well, how do we heal this?” she said. “Because somewhere we are going wrong and we’ve got to sit down and fix it somehow.”

The so-called Central Park Five — Raymond Santana and Kevin Richardson, both 14 at the time, 15-year-old Antron McCray, 16-year-old Korey Wise and Salaam — served six to 13 years in prison before their convictions were thrown out in 2002. Evidence linked Matias Reyes, a murderer and serial rapist, to the vicious attack that left its 28-year-old victim, who is white, with permanent damage and no memory of the assault.

Mayor Eric Adams called the project’s approval Monday “a moment of truth and reconciliation for New York City” and thanked Harlem community leaders for their advocacy.

“The Gate of the Exonerated symbolizes the resiliency of the Exonerated Five and all those who have been wrongfully convicted and serves as a lasting reminder of the grave miscarriage of justice that took place more than three decades ago,” he said in a statement.

Other entrances to the park have been labeled to reflect groups of people who live and work in the city, with names like Artisans’ Gate, Scholars’ Gate and Strangers’ Gate.

Officials say the bats are going into shock from the cold temperatures, and then falling from the trees.

While it may sounds strange, they said it is not all that uncommon.

The good news: The bats are OK. As it gets warmer during the day, the winged creatures eventually warm up and fly away.

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The Parks Department recommends those who see one on the ground to not touch it — just call 311 so park rangers can help the animal.

In one of Thursday’s attacks, a woman was running on Pier 45 in the West Village shortly before 6 a.m., authorities say. The victim was raped under a gazebo area on the pier, and police said the victim told them the suspect took off on a Citi bike. He was said to be wearing a burgundy sweater, black pants and a yellow hat.

“Clearly she had been injured, fell or something like that. She had blood on her elbows right here,” said Gabrielle Sumkin, who was also out for a run and noticed the woman in distress. Sumkin called 911 and stayed with the victim until police and first responders arrived. She said the woman appeared disoriented as she stayed with her.

“She was just kinda like, ‘I need help. I need help.’ Over and over again,” said Sumkin. “She was sitting there, I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t want to get too close. I didn’t want to ask her what happened or pry or anything like that.”

The woman was taken to the hospital for her injuries.

A senior police official said the suspect later tried to buy a bus ticket with a stolen credit card at Port Authority, but was denied. Then he went to Target and bought $39 worth of Red Bull with a different stolen card, the official said. Port Authority cops had him in cuffs within an hour after that, the senior police official said.

That suspect was identified as 28-year-old Carl Phanor, of Manhattan. Police said he had also been wanted in two other Manhattan attacks from March and October of this year. The sex attack and robbery on March 27 occurred at Pier 40, on the west side of Manhattan, while the early October incident was on an FDR service road near 37th Street.

Phanor was arrested by Manhattan Special Victims officers and faces a slew of in regards to the three alleged incidents. Police said he was charged with robbery for both the March and October attacks, the latter of which he was also charged with strangulation and sexual assault. For Thursday’s attack, he faces rape, sex assault, grand larceny and invalid use of a credit card charges, according to police.

Law enforcement sources said that when Phanor was apprehended at the Port Authority Bus Terminal early Thursday afternoon, he had apparently shaved his eyebrows since the previous two attacks.

Few details were available in the other sex attack Thursday, which happened in Central Park, near East 109th Street and East Drive around 1:30 a.m. A person of interest was taken into custody but no charges had yet been filed. It did not appear the woman, who also was hospitalized, knew her attacker in that incident.

Anyone with information on any of the cases is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.

Although months of record-breaking temperatures and droughts dried up parts of the northeast this past summer, leaf peepers in NYC should not worry about missing the colorful views Mother Nature puts on display this fall season.

Some of the best fall foliage views can be seen in Central Park, with trees turning a symphony of reds, oranges and yellows.

The Central Park Conservancy, a nonprofit that the cares for the daily upkeep of the park, has reported that leaves are beginning to peak, and released a new interactive map to track when and where to peep the best views.

The conservancy’s new map tracks peak foliage in real time throughout the iconic park, showing which sections are about to peak, currently peaking, and have already peaked.

When will fall foliage peak in Central Park?

While some national fall foliage maps predict that parts of New York may have already peaked between Oct. 10 and 17, trees in Central Park tend to do so later than the rest of the state.

The conservancy says the delayed peak is caused by the angles of the city’s sunrises and sunsets.

“This has a unique effect on Central Park’s trees which are often obscured by many shadows cast by surrounding buildings,” the conservancy said. “As a result of the light and temperature gradient, the trees often have a distorted sense of the seasons, meaning Central Park frequently experiences a later foliage turn than other parts of New York.”

Some parts of Central Park may have already begun to peak, according to the conservancy, while other parts have yet to do so.

Click here to learn more about the map and Central Park’s trees as they change colors this fall season.

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The doors of the beloved Loeb Boathouse were locked, and a sign on the front seemingly confirmed reports the longtime park restaurant had finally closed for good.

Previous reports of a mystery billionaire with a $6 million offer raised the hopes of longtime diners eager to see the restaurant stay open past the scheduled October close. But the offer wasn’t enough.

Word came last month that the city rejected the bid for reportedly not coming in high enough, the New York Post reported.

Operator Dean Poll previously said he had no choice but to shut down because of the skyrocketing costs of labor and goods, with all 163 employees at the restaurant to be laid off.

The restaurant reopened in March 2021 after temporarily shutting down in Oct. 2020 during the pandemic.

Officers said that the corpse was found in Turtle Pond around 4:30 p.m. when witnesses saw the body and called 911. Details surrounding the 76-year-old man’s death were not immediately clear, and the city’s medical examiner will determine a cause of death.

The man has not yet been identified. An investigation is ongoing.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

The woman was standing on the northbound 2 train platform at the Harlem hub around 2:30 a.m. when cops say a stranger who may have been in his 20s attacked her.

She got on an arriving train and rode it to the next stop, where she reported the attack to authorities, the NYPD says.

The victim was taken to a hospital for treatment of her injuries and is expected to be OK. The suspect fled the scene.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.

The Central Park Lake became a crime scene for part of the afternoon after the park employee discovered the remains around 2 p.m., according to authorities.

Officials said the body of a male was pulled from the lake, partially decomposed, but did not have an identity or details about how they ended up in the water.

The body had been floating in the water close to 78th Street, near the Rambles, police said.

The city’s medical examiner will determine a cause of death.

U.S. District Judge Ronnie Abrams on Wednesday rejected Amy Cooper’s claims that her former employer, investment management company Franklin Templeton, defamed her when it repeatedly said the firm did not tolerate racism.

Abrams further said Amy Cooper had failed to prove that she was fired due to her race or gender and without the kind of investigation that had once been conducted on allegations of another employee’s misconduct.

Amy Cooper lost her job after a video was shared on social media showing her calling 911 on bird-watcher Christian Cooper and telling police that an “African American man” had threatened her life and the life of her dog.

Read the full story at NBCNews.com.

The man’s victim had been sitting on a park bench near 62nd Street and Center Drive around 9:45 a.m. when he took the “unprovoked” punch, police said.

Authorities said the 34-year-old Columbia-native lives on Long Island.

As the assailant attempted to flee the scene of his attack, police said he pushed an 83-year-old woman to the ground, causing her to hit her head.

Both victims were expected to be OK.

Police had made no arrests by the evening, and were still searching for a man dressed in black.

The 84-story residential Steinway Tower, designed by New York architecture firm SHoP Architects, has the title of “most slender skyscraper in the world” thanks to its logic-defying ratio of width to height: 23 1/2-to-1.

“Any time it’s 1-to-10 or more that’s considered a slender building; 1-to-15 or more is considered exotic and really difficult to do,” SHoP Architects founding principal Gregg Pasquarelli said. “The most slender buildings in the world are mostly in Hong Kong, and they’re around 17- or 18-to-1.”

The 60 apartments in the tower range in cost from $18 million to $66 million per unit, and offer 360-degree views of the city. It’s located just south of Central Park, along a stretch of Manhattan’s 57th Street known as “Billionaires Row.”

At 1,428 feet, the building is the second-tallest residential tower in the Western Hemisphere, second to the nearby Central Park Tower at 1,550 feet. For comparison, the world’s tallest tower is Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, which stands at 2,717 feet.

Steinway Tower is so skinny at the top that whenever the wind ramps up, the luxury homes on the upper floors sway around by a few feet.

“Every skyscraper has to move,” Pasquarelli said. “If it’s too stiff, it’s actually more dangerous — it has to have flexibility in it.”

To prevent the tower from swaying too far, the architects created a counterbalance with tuned steel plates. And while the exterior has the de rigueur reflective glass, it also includes a textured terracotta and bronze facade that creates wind turbulence to slow the acceleration of the building, Pasquarelli said. About 200 rock anchors descend at most 100 feet into the underlying bedrock to provide a deep foundation.

Steinway Tower has a long history as the former location of Steinway Hall, constructed in 1924. JDS Development Group and Property Markets Group bought the building in 2013, and now they’re looking to the future.

“What I’m hoping is that 50 years from now, you’ve only known New York with 111 West 57th St.,” Pasquarelli said. “I hope it holds a special place in all future New Yorkers’ hearts.”

AP contributor Aron Ranen contributed to this report.

A secret donor has swooped in with a $6 million offer to save the beloved Loeb Boathouse, which was slated to close in October. Operator Dean Poll previously said he had no choice but to shut down because of the skyrocketing costs of labor and goods, with all 163 employees at the restaurant set to be laid off.

But after hearing the news, an anonymous billionaire offered to help finance the boathouse, which sits along the easternmost edge of the Central Park Lake. The reported deal with help keep the restaurant open under Poll’s current deal with the city.

The restaurant reopened in March 2021 after temporarily shutting down in Oct. 2020 during the pandemic.

NYC Parks plans to start a negotiation process to identify and reach an agreement with a new operator to run the restaurant as well as the snack bar and rowboat rental, the agency said Friday.

The current operator announced last month it planned to close Loeb Boathouse for good in mid-October. The city says it has worked to ensure catered events can continue there through New Year’s Eve and to let the current operator out of the agreement sooner in order to make way for a new one.

“In accordance with Section 1-14 of the Concession Rules of the City of New York, Parks is utilizing the negotiated concession process, rather than a competitive sealed proposal process, in order to identify and install a new operator as quickly as possible,” the statement said. “The concession will be operated pursuant to a license issued by Parks; no leasehold or other proprietary right will be offered. The concession is projected to expire no more than 10 years from the commencement date.  The selected operator must also act in good faith to seek to accommodate any events already booked at the facility.”

Interested in submitting a proposal or learning more? Reach out to this contact by Aug. 19.

The proposal submission process starts after that. Those will be evaluated on the bases of capital investment, improvement and designs; operating experience; financial capability; planned operations; and fee offer, the city says. The Loeb Boathouse is a New York City landmark, so any improvements are subject to approval by the Landmark and Public Design commissions.

Located on the eastern shore of the 72nd Street Lake in Central Park, the Loeb Boathouse was constructed in 1952 and has served as a unique dining and recreational amenity in one of New York City’s most picturesque locations. 

The restaurant’s main dining room opens onto the lake and features accordion-style glass windows that fold back to allow the restaurant to become totally open to the lake during the warmer months, and close to allow for uninterrupted views with protection from the elements during the winter months. The building also includes an indoor bar with a large stone fireplace, a snack bar with indoor and outdoor access and seating, a Lake Room currently used for special events, restrooms for customers and the general public, and an enclosed courtyard accessible to the public. 

Rowboats are also rented from an outdoor kiosk with boats stored on a series of wooden docks.

Steven Lopez was exonerated in response to requests by both Lopez’s attorney and prosecutors. He was arrested along with five other Black and Latino teenagers in the rape and assault on Trisha Meili but reached a deal with prosecutors to plead guilty to the lesser charge of robbing a male jogger.

Meili went public in 2003 and published a book titled “I Am the Central Park Jogger.” The brutal assault put the 28-year-old white investment banker in a coma for 12 days. It was considered emblematic of New York City’s lawlessness in an era when the city recorded 2,000 murders a year.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg told a judge Monday that review of the case found that Lopez had pleaded guilty involuntarily “in the face of false statements” and under “immense external pressure.” Lopez was in court but didn’t speak.

Lopez, now 48, served about three years in prison before being released in the early 1990s. He told a judge “thank you” as he was exonerated Monday.

Five teenagers were convicted in the attack on Meili and served six to 13 years in prison. Their convictions were overturned in 2002 after evidence linked a convicted serial rapist and murderer, Matias Reyes, to the attack.

Prosecutors who reviewed the case had concluded the teenagers’ confessions, made after hours of interrogations, were deeply flawed.

“A comparison of the statements reveals troubling discrepancies,” they wrote in court papers at the time. “The accounts given by the five defendants differed from one another on the specific details of virtually every major aspect of the crime.”

The Central Park Five, now sometimes known as the “Exonerated Five,” went on to win a $40 million settlement from the city and inspire books, movies and television shows.

Lopez has not received a settlement, and his case has been nearly forgotten in the years since he pleaded guilty to robbery in 1991 to avoid the more serious rape charge. His expected exoneration was first reported in The New York Times.

“We talk about the Central Park Five, the Exonerated Five, but there were six people on that indictment,” Bragg told the Times ahead of Monday’s exoneration. “And the other five who were charged, their convictions were vacated. And it’s now time to have Mr. Lopez’s charge vacated.”

The Loeb Boathouse, which sits along the easternmost edge of the Central Park Lake, will permanently close come October. The restaurant reopened in March 2021 after temporarily shutting down in Oct. 2020 during the pandemic.

The operator blamed rising costs of labor and goods. All 163 employees at the restaurant will be laid off, according to the notice filed to the state by the owner.

The New York City Parks Department is looking for a new business to takeover the space, and said they were working with the owner to make accommodations for those who already have events scheduled there.

The NYPD has linked a man wanted in two ambush Manhattan sex attacks an hour apart over the weekend to a third case in May — one that has chilling similarities to the two incidents that rattled New Yorkers this past Saturday.

Police said late Tuesday they had connected the suspect, who was seen riding an electric bicycle in both Saturday attacks, to a May 15, 2022 incident. As in the more recent cases, he was riding a bike and it happened in the pre-dawn hours.

Cops said the May attack happened on the Manhattan Bridge walkway around 4:30 a.m. The 26-year-old victim was riding her bike on the span when the suspect, also on a bike, approached her, cops say. He then leapt off and grabbed her hair from behind before he showed a knife and pulled her to the ground. He then forced her to perform a sexual act.

The suspect then got back on his bike and took off toward Manhattan.

The narrative was disturbingly similar to the second attack of Saturday’s two attacks, which happened around 5 a.m. near Avenue A and East Fourth Street. Video shows the 28-year-old victim walking in the cross street, the man on the bike weaving in and around the lines on the pavement around her. He almost appears to bump into her at times, then swerves away.

She crosses the street and the footage cuts to another location. The woman is seen walking underneath a construction façade, along the sidewalk. Suddenly, someone is seen running from behind and tackling her.

Police say he told the woman he had a knife and forced her to perform oral sex. He never showed the weapon, they said. He fled the scene on his bicycle. The woman was taken to a hospital for abrasions and a medical evaluation.

An hour earlier, cops say the same man attacked a 23-year-old woman around 4 a.m. near Central Park West and West 82nd Street. Again, he approached from behind and pulled her to the ground, police said. A struggle ensued. Cops say the suspect held the victim down and sexually assaulted her. He ran off on foot, then was seen a short time later traveling southbound on Central Park West on an electric bicycle. That victim had abrasions to her body and was taken to a hospital to be evaluated.

Police released a sketch of the suspect late Tuesday in hopes it will help them track down their attacker.

Anyone with information on the man seen in the surveillance video (above) is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.

A woman was ambushed by a sex predator on an electric bicycle who followed her in Manhattan, then got off the bike and chased her down, tackling her on the sidewalk, police say. And the same person is wanted in connection with a sex attack near Central Park on the Upper West Side an hour earlier.

The NYPD released chilling footage of the second attack, which happened around 5 a.m. Saturday near Avenue A and East Fourth Street. It shows the 28-year-old victim walking in the cross street, the man on the bike weaving in and around the lines on the pavement around her. He almost appears to bump into her at times, then swerves away.

She crosses the street and the footage cuts to another location. The woman is seen walking underneath a construction facade, along the sidewalk. Suddenly, someone is seen running from behind and tackling her.

Police say he told the woman he had a knife and forced her to perform oral sex. He never showed the weapon, they said. He fled the scene on his bicycle. The woman was taken to a hospital for abrasions and a medical evaluation.

The earlier attack linked to the same suspect happened around 4 a.m. near Central Park West and West 82nd Street, the NYPD said. In that case, a 23-year-old woman was walking when a man approached her from behind and pulled her to the ground, similar to how the Avenue A attack appeared to play out, based on surveillance footage.

A struggle ensued. Cops say the suspect held the victim down and sexually assaulted her. He ran off on foot, then was seen a short time later traveling southbound on Central Park West on an electric bicycle. That victim also had abrasions to her body and was taken to a hospital to be evaluated.

Anyone with information on the suspect seen in the surveillance video (above) is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.

Just after 8 a.m. on Sept. 21 last year, the NYPD responded to a report of an unconscious person at 65th Street and East Drive in A Native Meadow. They found a 26-year-old man with a rope tied around his neck, dead.

Little was heard of the case since, until Friday, when police identified the victim as a homeless man, Elvis Garcia, and said the case had been deemed a homicide.

There are no arrests and the investigation remains in progress.

According to officials, the 65-year-old victim had just gotten off a northbound 1 train at 72nd Street and Broadway around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday when cops say a stranger approached him from behind and punched him in the back. The 65-year-old whirled around to confront his attacker, who promptly punched him in the face, police said.

The suspect and the woman rolling the suitcase who was with him then got on a northbound 2 train. The victim followed them, in a separate train car, police said. All three got out at the West 110th Street and Central Park North station, where cops say the 65-year-old tried to follow the pair again. They were last seen on 110th street.

The victim had some bruising to his face but refused medical attention at the time he reported the incident, authorities said. Police released surveillance video of the duo (above). Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.

New York City Parks is welcoming proposals for “inventive, exciting concepts, whether selling an assortment of healthy, fresh salads to people on the go, hot and cold delicacies from a distant homeland, or fresh flowers,” the department said in a press release Wednesday.

It is the first time that the Parks Department has ever put out a request for proposals for mobile food and merchandise. The vendors will be found in some of the most iconic parks in the city — including Central Park, Forest Park, Macombs Dam Park and more.

The goal of the addition to the parks is to help the city enrich its greenspaces, and make a significant improvement to the quality and ambience of the parks, according to the department.

The Parks Department is looking for the vendors to operate a five-year term per location.

All proposals for this RFP must be submitted electronically no later than August 2, 2022 through the digital Procurement and Sourcing Solutions Portal (PASSPort), which requires a PASSPort account.

For information on how to access RFP via PASSPort, visit Parks’ Business Opportunities page. The department is encouraging participation by Disadvantaged/Minority/Women-Owned Business Enterprise (D/M/WBE) firms.

For more information, visit Parks’ D/M/WBE Opportunities page.  

The Wollman Rink will have its first day of “DiscOasis” for skaters on June 16. The DiscOasis is a “glittering roller-disco paradise for the soul,” and plans to be full of music, art, performances, and dancing. 

The famous rink is usually home to ice-skaters from October until April. 

Visitors will be able to roller skate Wednesdays through Sundays from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. and choose between daytime or evening sessions. 

The Wollman Rink is a two-minute walk from the Central Park entrance at 59th Street and 6th Avenue.

The daytime session starts at 10 a.m. and ends at 4:30 p.m. where skaters can choose to participate for a 1- or 3-hour session.

DiscOasis promises to “come alive” at night through an immersive experience. The evening session will pick up at 5:30 p.m. and end at 10 p.m. 

Tickets for the evening include two hours on the rink, a dance party, and live performances.  

But Wollman Rink is not the only famous place to be transformed for the season. The iconic Rink at Rockefeller Center was turned into Flipper’s Roller Boogie Palace in April 2022 and will remain open until October.

Tickets and more information for DiscOasis are available here.

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The channel announced this week that the life-long bird-watcher is set to host a new series titled “Extraordinary Birder.”

Cooper, 59, was previously in the spotlight after Amy Cooper (no relation) called 9-1-1 and falsely accused him of threatening her in a May 2020 viral video. The woman was charged with a third-degree misdemeanor for making a false report, then-Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance later reported.

In Cooper’s new series, the bird enthusiast “takes us into the wild, wonderful and unpredictable world of birds,” according to National Geographic.

“Whether braving stormy seas in Alaska for puffins, trekking into rainforests in Puerto Rico for parrots, or scaling a bridge in Manhattan for a peregrine falcon, he does whatever it takes to learn about these extraordinary feathered creatures and show us the remarkable world in the sky above,” the network added in an accompanying press release. No release date has been announced.

While speaking with the New York Times, Cooper — whose love for birdwatching began when he was 10 and growing up on Long Island — shared that he “was all in” when he was approached to do the series. He’s already completed six episodes.

“I love spreading the gospel of birding,” he said, adding that he hopes the show will encourage people “to stop and watch and listen and really start appreciating the absolutely spectacular creatures that we have among us.”

“Extraordinary Birder” is produced by Lucky 8, with George Kralovansky, Irfan Rahman, Kimberly Woodard, Jon Kroll and Doug Veith as executive producers. Pam Caragol is executive producer and Janet Vissering is senior vice president of development and production for National Geographic.

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Police rushed to the area of 110th Street and 5th Avenue around 5 p.m. Saturday for reports of shots fired.

One bullet hit a 12-year-old’s leg, and a 14-year-old was shot in the bicep and grazed in the stomach by a second bullet, police said.

Officers recovered five shell casings in the area, but said they don’t know what the motive may have been or if the boys were the shooter’s intended targets.

Both boys were expected to recover.

Capital One City Parks Foundation SummerStage will offer nearly 90 free concerts, dance performances, film screenings, and art workshops in Central Park and neighborhood parks.

The season’s programming will celebrate the city’s revival and culture with over 200 artists in unique genres, such as reggae, pop, global, indie rock, Afrobeat, soul and more.

“Visiting a SummerStage show is like taking a journey around the world — we present sounds from as far away as Australia, Ghana, Brazil and France that reflect our city’s worldwide perspective, while also featuring local hometown favorites that reflect distinctly New York genres, like hip-hop, salsa and jazz,” Heather Lubov, City Parks Foundation’s Executive Director, told NBC New York.

With a focus on diversity and inclusion, last year’s festival consisted of just over 50% female or non-binary artists and 95% identifying as BIPOC.

Opening night is set for June 11 in Central Park with legendary jazz pianist and composer Herbie Hancock in association with the Blue Note Jazz Festival.

The three-day Charlie Parker Jazz Festival will also return for its 30th year at Tompkins Square Park in the East Village.

“We are so happy to be back in local neighborhood parks after a two-year hiatus and to be able to once again build our newly refurbished flagship concert venue in Central Park,” said Lubov.

This year’s highlights include artists Caribou, Waxahatchee, MC Solaar, Carla Morrison, Ana Tijoux and Tony Vega. Benefit concerts to help support these free performances will feature Modest Mouse, Belle & Sebastian, Fitz and The Tantrums, George Clinton and Trombone Shorty.

In addition to the music, SummerStage will have a free outdoor screening at Marcus Garvey Park on June 17 of the Oscar and Grammy award-winning documentary “Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised),” remembering Juneteenth.

Partnering with Rooftop Films, SummerStage will play international short films prior to this season’s Central Park shows.

FDNY investigators are now working to determine if any link exists between this new round of fires and the series that was set last Tuesday, enshrouding the iconic space’s tall trees in a thick, billowy white smoke.

Reports of two small fires brought firefighters back into the park between 2:30 and 3 a.m. Monday, both knocked down after about 15 minutes. These new acts of apparent arson were discovered in the Ramble, near Bow Bridge.

Last week’s fires, at least six but as many as 10, appeared to have started in the North Woods, the largest of the park’s three woodland landscapes and a hotspot for birdwatching and other nature activities, shortly before 2 p.m. Law enforcement sources said a person was seen setting fires in wooded areas near West 107th Street and Central Park West.

The FDNY confirmed it was working to put out “numerous brush fires” (though law enforcement sources described them as rubbish fires) in the park near 110th Street. Hotspots continued to spring up as stubborn wisps of smoke and smoldering embers refused to die down into the evening.

No injuries were reported. Patches of scorched earth, burned by fire, could be seen through northern sections of the park.

The Central Park Conservancy, which manages the park, said inspections showed no serious damage. The material burned included mulch and leaves, with some shrubbery getting charred, but no trees were damaged, the organization said.

Police, meanwhile, are looking into whether the afternoon fires could be linked to a separate fire apparently set in Central Park earlier in the morning, around 7 a.m., the law enforcement sources said.

Witnesses told police they saw a man setting a fire in the afternoon near Central Park West, the sources said, though no description was immediately made public.

Video posted to the Citizen app made it appear as if the smoke could be seen from fairly far away.

The fires, at least six but as many as 10, appeared to have started in the North Woods, the largest of the park’s three woodland landscapes and a hotspot for birdwatching and other nature activities, shortly before 2 p.m. Law enforcement sources said a person was seen setting fires in wooded areas near West 107th Street and Central Park West.

The FDNY confirmed it was working to put out “numerous brush fires” (though law enforcement sources described them as rubbish fires) in the park near 110th Street. Hotspots continued to spring up as stubborn wisps of smoke and smoldering embers refused to die down into the evening.

No injuries were reported. Patches of scorched earth, burned by fire, could be seen through northern sections of the park.

The Central Park Conservancy, which manages the park, said inspections showed no serious damage. The material burned included mulch and leaves, with some shrubbery getting charred, but no trees were damaged, the organization said.

Police, meanwhile, are looking into whether the afternoon fires could be linked to a separate fire apparently set in Central Park earlier in the morning, around 7 a.m., the law enforcement sources said.

Witnesses told police they saw a man setting a fire in the afternoon near Central Park West, the sources said, though no description was immediately made public.

Video posted to the Citizen app made it appear as if the smoke could be seen from fairly far away.

No other details were immediately available.

Founded in 1825, Seneca Village was once home to nearly 200 residents. 

Some villagers were German and Irish American.

But most of them were Black.

Nestled in a 40-acre wide strip of Central Park’s Upper West Side, Seneca Village was the largest community of free African-American landowners in pre-Civil War New York.

By 1855, nearly half of them owned their own homes. They had a school, churches, gardens and voting rights because they owned land. 

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A right most Black people in America wouldn’t fully get to exercise for another several decades.

But in 1857, Seneca Village was torn down when the city decided it wanted to create a park. 

Villagers were essentially forced to leave.

Today, researchers are trying to figure out where they went and locate their descendants.

A lot of the original landscape can still be seen in the park today. 

It stretches from 82nd Street to 89th Street and Central Park West.

“We know that they used some of the stone that you see out there now to build their houses,” Marie Warsh, a historian with the Central Park Conservancy, told NBC New York. 

Signs erected by the Central Park Conservancy help to commemorate and tell the story of the village and its vibrant community. 

“You can really start to imagine what it may have looked like,” said Warsh. 

Talks to figure out a permanent way to commemorate Seneca Village, which is not a historical landmark, are ongoing. 

Those interested in learning more about the history of Seneca Village can visit the MET’s “Before Yesterday We Could Fly: An Afrofuturist Period Room” exhibition or www.centralparknyc.org.

A jogger discovered the tent in a wooded area inside of Central Park near 79th Street and East Drive just before 12:30 p.m. Friday, a senior NYPD official said. The jogger told a Parks Department employee, who found skeletal remains inside the tent.

The NYC medical examiner examined the remains, and confirmed that they were of a human, but were highly decomposed, according to the senior police official.

An investigation is ongoing.

America’s symbol has swooped in and is showing smaller prey who’s boss. The bald eagle has been seen soaring over the reservoir and even hunting prey.

“I’ve been walking in the Reservoir for 10 years, and it’s amazing to see a bald eagle in Central Park, very exciting,” said birder Steve Greenhouse. Another woman said she saw the bird flying, but hadn’t seen it on the ground yet.

David Barrett, perhaps better known on Twitter as Manhattan Bird Alert, has been following all the “bald eagle mania,” as he called it.

“We know it’s ‘Rover,’ the one that had been visiting Brooklyn for a few years. We know it because of the tag on it, a metal tag, R-7,” Barrett said. “Bald eagles fascinate people, they are a bird that most people haven’t seen in Manhattan.”

So when is the best time to try and catch a glimpse of the majestic ornithological find?

“Between, say, the hours of 4 o’clock and sunset, that’s the higest opportunity time to see the bald eagle on the Central Park Reservoir,” according to Barrett.

Fellow birder Suresh Easwar caught a great shot of the eagle, for the third day in a row. One photo show’s the hunter as it stood over its prey.

“The bald eagle was sitting over there, and then it started to fly and spooked all the birds,” Easwar said. “Then it flew around and sat on the ice, other side over there, and it rediscovered what we believe was the kill from Sunday.”

Those hoping to spot the bald eagle are advised to stay close to the reservoir, bring binoculars or a camera, and be patient.

“People get close shots of the eagle, that’s not something you get every day,” said Barrett.