Chinese student mugged in NY park where woman was slain

A Chinese overseas student was mugged in New York by three youths three months before the fatal stabbing of another college student in the same park, according to the New York Post.

Yao Yu, 20, a Columbia University mathematics student, had been in the United States only four days when he was robbed at knifepoint on Aug 27 while descending stairs at 116th Street and Morningside Drive leading to Morningside Park, the New York newspaper reported on Friday.

Yu said he was walking home from class in the afternoon when he was approached by three suspects, one wielding a knife and the other a stick, police said.

"They asked me where I was from and if I had any money. At first, I didn't think they were threatening me, so I told them I didn't have any money. Then, they showed me an open knife, so I gave them my wallet and they took my money," Yu told the Post on Friday.

"I was surprised this happened to me. Before I came, I heard that New York is pretty safe, but I encountered these things, and it's really unfortunate," he said.

When Yu reported the incident to the police department, he was told that several people had been robbed at the same place "by the same teenagers" but police couldn't do much about it because "they aren't adults".

"When I heard about the girl who was killed, I thought it was the same group of teenagers, and I was scared," said Yu, who said he would be taking the campus shuttle bus in the future. "I feel very sorry for her."

Tessa Majors, 18, of Charlottesville, Virginia, a freshman at Barnard College, was killed in the same area of the park on the evening of Dec 11. Three youths also were reportedly involved in her slaying, which has drawn widespread media attention and raised fear at the women's college, which shares a campus with Columbia.

A 13-year-old is in police custody in connection with Majors' slaying and another teenager is being sought in the case. A third youth was questioned by police and released.

Majors was known as an ebullient young woman with an interest in journalism who also played in a punk rock band that already had released an album.

Reports emerged over the weekend that Majors was looking to buy marijuana in the park.

On Sunday, Ed Mullins, president of the Sergeants Association of the New York Police Department, or NYPD, criticized the city on a New York radio show for what he called leniency regarding marijuana smoking.

"We don't enforce marijuana laws anymore," he said. "We're basically hands-off on the enforcement of marijuana."

Mullins also criticized New York Mayor Bill de Blasio's comments after Majors' killing.

"I understand the mayor made statements that this is surprising on how this can happen in New York City," he said. "I really have to question what world he's living in to think that this is surprising, when we are watching the city slowly erode, with shootings, stabbings, an increase in homicides and, most importantly, a hands-off policing policy."

According to NYPD data, there have been 20 robberies in the park so far this year, compared with seven in 2018.

Maria Lopez, 61, a longtime Morningside Heights resident, told The New York Times that Majors' killing was a stark reminder of when the city was more dangerous.

"When I was growing up and even in my 20s, you never came to this park, daytime or nighttime," said Lopez, adding that she had spent her entire life in the area. "You didn't even walk on Morningside Drive."

At a news conference on Thursday, de Blasio said the NYPD immediately increased patrols in the area after Majors' killing.

"Students and people in the neighborhood will see more patrolling officers in the neighborhood, and this will be done in conjunction with Columbia (University) public security who are already stationed in the area," said Olivia Lapeyrolerie, De Blasio's deputy press secretary, according to the Columbia Spectator student newspaper.