The Puerto Rican Day Parade attacks occurred on June 11, 2000 in Manhattan, New York City, and involved multiple assailants who harassed, sexually assaulted, and robbed random victims.
While there were nearly a thousand police officers assigned to Central Park during the parade, none were present along a stretch of Center Drive, where many of the more violent attacks would take place.
[3] At Simon Bolivar Plaza, near Sixth Avenue and Central Park South, a group of 15 to 20 men descended upon two teenagers, sprayed them with water, and proceeded to grope them.
One of the last attacks was on a trio of British tourists at around 6:48 p.m.[3] The three teenagers were sitting on a fence in the park when a group of men began groping them.
[6][7] The New York City Police Department was widely criticized for its failures to stop or prevent the attacks.
Mayor Rudy Giuliani initially defended the NYPD, remarking, "We have 41,000 police officers, and they can't be everywhere, at every point..."[8] Police Commissioner Howard Safir told reporters, "If I put 10,000 cops in Central Park, we couldn't cover every single area.
[12] Manuel Vargas, a Dominican American from Washington Heights and a suspected ringleader, was quoted by the press as saying he "was just having fun".
[16] Mayor Giuliani banned alcohol at the parade the following year, though public consumption of alcohol was already illegal before the move[17] The 2000 Puerto Rican Day Parade attacks formed the basis of the episode "Sunday in the Park with Jorge", of the NBC police procedural Law & Order, in which many women were accosted and one was found murdered in Central Park.