I love Central Park.

I spend 2-3 hours every day that I am in New York City walking in the Park with my doggie.

I am very familiar with the expansive 843 ancres of sweeping lawns, picturesque woodlands, meandering streams and broad lakes.

I pick up trash while offering doggie bags to the idiots who don’t scoop the excrement up…seriously, your priority when in the Park with a dog is to have the dog do their business. Do not act fake surprised that your dog just took a dump.

Sadly, Central Park has become a battlefield under the failed law and order mayor.

It has literally become a daily installment of Law and Order with crazies, homeless people, and roving bands of teenagers who are robbing people of their phones and cash. Do not get me started on the sexual assaults.

Current reality is you cannot be in Central Park alone after dark.

Everyday there is a story in the newspaper or on television.

This saddens me as Central Park has always been my refuge, an escape from realities of living in the concrete jungle.

Yesterday, I was walking across Central Park to the east side without Finnley.

I am never in the Park without my doggie  She is a solid 60 and a large black dog.

No one screws with me even though she is a sweetie.

I was walking on a road where bicyclists ride and where the Park’s electric car chargers are located.

I was strolling very close to the cars even though it is a wide lane.

A twenty-something thug was riding up the hill as I was descending.

He was coming right at me even though there was plenty of road to navigate.

We made eye contact. He snarled and deliberately tried to run me over.

At the last second I turned inward and hugged a car.

He laughed and reached out to smack me in the head, but I dodged his fist doing my best to float like a butterfly.

People around me screamed and I calmly turned and bellowed at his rapidly disappearing back, “What the fuck is wrong with you!”

I dusted myself off, thanked the car for the protective hug and headed downhill whistling, “Morning Has Broken.”

Be safe, stay cool and enjoy the weekend.