The body of a badly decomposed naked man was found floating face down in the Central Park reservoir Tuesday — just yards from a popular tourist picnic spot and the busy running oval, authorities said.
A maintenance worker spotted the corpse in the water near East 87th Street and East Drive, not far from the park’s widely used jogging track, and called for help at around 12:40 p.m., according to police.
Cops and fire officials rushed to the scene, fished the body from the water, and pronounced the man dead at the scene — stunning runners, cyclists and lunchtime park-goers, cops and witnesses said.
“I saw something out there earlier today that looked like a potato sack floating. Couldn’t tell if it was a human, it looked like litter to me,” one jogger told The Post.
The man’s body showed no obvious signs of trauma and it’s possible that he drowned, police said.
But park-goers called the floating cadaver a frightening reminder of Manhattan’s crime-plagued bad old days.
“I’m shocked it happened in this part of town. I never see anything remotely dangerous or anything like that,” said Patrick Cox, 40, a stay-at-home dad from the Upper West Side. “Wow, I’m completely baffled.”
Gloria Wong, a 36-year-old nurse from the Upper East Side added, “I run here three to four times a week and feel safe. Then again who knows what goes on here at night.”
The body had not been identified on Tuesday afternoon, cops said.