Public Employee Press

Rangers stop rape in Forest Park, Queens
But the proposed budget would eliminate their jobs.
DC 37 and Local 983 fight to restore funds.

A Sunday evening stroll in the park was anything but for a young woman who was saved when three Urban Park Rangers thwarted an attempted rape. On the early spring night, March 5, the 26-year-old woman walked home through Forest Park, a Queens green space with winding paths, a lake and picnic tables. But her tranquil exercise turned harrowing and ugly when an assailant pounced and dragged her into the woods. A jogger heard her screams and alerted the Rangers.

“We responded as quickly as we could,” said UPR Ralph Baselice. When their Jeep stalled, Baselice and UPR Brett Healy pursued the suspect on foot, leaving partner Astel Blake behind the wheel.

“When we reached the victim she was terrified and distraught,” Baselice said. The Rangers arrived on the scene before the police. “I’m just glad we were there,” he said. The suspect escaped through the woods, but their speedy and heroic action prevented a rape.

The three Park Enforcement Patrol members had been working for the Parks Dept. since September 2005 under a temporary program that is not funded in the current budget proposal.

DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts is pressing in City Hall to extend the funding and keep the UPRs hired last year on the job. “With summer coming, more people will be in the parks. They need the protection of city workers like these union members,” she said.

UPRs are Peace Officers with full authority to arrest and detain perpetrators. They issue summonses and enforce Parks rules and regulations. They also educate the public and act as park guides.

“The March 5 incident put a face on safety issues in city parks,” said Local 983 President Mark Rosenthal. “These members are a daily deterrent to crime, preventing quality of life violations as well as violence.”

This spring Local 983 has lobbied to convince the City Council to add $5 million to the Parks budget to protect the jobs of the provisional Park Enforcement Patrol Officers, including heroes Baselice and Healy, and to hire more UPRs.

“We are pushing to bring our numbers closer to the 450 Rangers who worked in city parks in the 1990s,” said Local 983 1st Vice President Joe Puleo.

Fortunately, the three UPRs were on a routine spot check in Forest Park when they stopped the rape. In 1996, three UPRs had been assigned to a Forest Park substation, which was eliminated by the Giuliani administration.

The City Council issued a proclamation May 10 commending Urban Park Rangers Ralph Baselice, Astel Blake and Brett Healy for their bravery and heroic action in preventing the March 5 rape attempt.

— Diane S. Williams