Safety Tips

If you are planning on enjoying a day in Central Park, it is a good idea to know where the park's safety resources are. Central Park has several call boxes that can be used in an emergency. Just some of these call boxes can be found in the following locations:

» on West Drive at 100th, 102nd, 110th, 93rd, 90th, 83rd, 68th, and 60th Streets.

» on East Drive at 102nd, 92nd, 90th, 84th, 79th, and 63rd Streets.

» at the Mariner's Playground.

» at Mineral Springs.

» at the Bernard Family Playground.

» at the Lasker Pool.

» at the Conservatory Garden.

» at the East 96th Street Playground.

The Central Park Conservancy maintains an up-to-date list of the callbox locations in the park. Callboxes connect the caller directly to the Central Park Precinct, though they can take up to half a minute to do so.

The 843 acres that make up Central Park are patrolled by the Central Park Precinct, a division of the New York City Police Department. This precinct can be reached by calling (212) 570-4820 or by visiting the station on the 86th Street Transverse Road, which cuts through the center of the park. The precinct can be found in the middle of that road, between the Great Lawn softball field and the Reservoir.

Medical needs within Central Park are often met by the Central Park Medical Unit, which is a volunteer ambulance service staffed entirely by New York state certified EMTs. The majority of calls to the CPMU are about bicycle and rollerblade accidents, as well as asthma attacks.