Ex-UWS Candidate Sucker Punched In Central Park, She Says

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — A former Upper West Side candidate says she was sucker punched in Central Park on Wednesday.

Maria Danzilo, who previously ran to represent the Upper West Side in both the City Council and state Senate, said she was punched in the arm around 2:25 p.m. on Wednesday while waking her dog near West 81st Street in Central Park.

"I am shaken to the core," she tweeted Wednesday night. "I think he was aiming for my face but I moved away at last second."

She added that the Upper West Side neighborhood had "become terrifying," and called on Mayor Eric Adams "to put his money where his mouth is and live up to his promise of delivering real public safety."

An NYPD spokesperson confirmed a woman, 66, was attacked at the time and place detailed by Danzilo. They said the woman was not injured and the man headed toward Belvedere Castle.

Neither police nor Danzilo provided a description of the attacker.

Danzilo, who made Upper West Side public safety a leading platform issue in her two political campaigns, ran for the City Council District 6 against Gale Brewer in 2021, and for state Senate District 47 against Brad Hoylman in 2022.

She is currently leading protests against a Safe Haven opening soon at 83rd Street between Amsterdam and Columbus, which will house 108 formerly homeless people in a facility run by Breaking Ground.

She ended her description of the attack with a connection to her ongoing push against the Safe Haven that is slated to open in April.

"It’s ironic that this happened to me at a time when I am fighting to stop an unsafe shelter from opening at PS 9 schoolyard for 108 men with mental illness and chemical addictions and no screening or curfews," she wrote. "But maybe today is a sign that we are on the right track."

The shelter, which will house all sexes, is opening across the street from the P.S. 9 schoolyard. It is also not specifically geared to people with mental illnesses or chemical additions, and it does screen for anyone that has residency restrictions through inclusion on a Sex Offender Registry.