A homeless man was bashed in the head with a bike lock and killed during a bloody dispute with another man in Union Square Park, police said today.
Friday’s deadly attack comes less than three weeks after The Post reported on a police crackdown aimed at reigning in lawlessness in the park — and just a week after a mobile NYPD command center was removed from between East 15th and East 16th streets, according to NYC Park Advocates.
Keenan Bryce, 29 — who also is homeless — allegedly smashed a U-shaped bick lock against 56-year-old Stanley Novak’s head about 1:20 a.m. Friday.The violence capped a fight between the two, but cops don’t known what the dispute was all about.
Novak died at Bellevue Hospital at 5:19 p.m. that afternoon. Bryce, who was busted just March 19 for possession of pot in the park, was arrested later Friday and charged with murder.
Before the police moved in, the popular greenspace had previously been a trouble spot — drug arrests have skyrocketed, nearly triple from last year; there was a stabbing, which was deemed a possible hate crime, and public drinking has been on the rise, The Post has reported.
“The incident between the homeless men got the city park people concerned so they bumped up security,” said one guard who asked not to be identified. “There are more of us here now watching over things.
“Drug trafficking is still an issue, but we’re just doing our best to keep an eye out.”
Geoffrey Croft, of NYC Park Advocates, said the homicide was the sixth slaying on parkland in four months.
“Crime is exploding in city parks, while Union Square has made some recent improvements,” he said. “This tragic incident is a constant reminder of our need to be vigilant.”