The discovery of the dead body of a homeless man inside Prospect Park early on Wednesday is being investigated as a homicide, cops said.
A Parks Department worker found the two- to three-day-old corpse of a 30- to 40-year-old Hispanic man at around 8:15 am near Lookout Hill, and cops promptly cordoned off a wide area of the park’s southwestern corner adjacent to Windsor Terrace.
The body was “fully dressed and there were signs of blunt force to the head,” said Det. Minely Diaz, a police spokeswoman.
Officials did not release the victim’s name because his family had not yet been notified.
Though safer than it was in the past, Olmsted and Vaux’s masterpiece is not entirely insulated from the violence of urban life.
In 2006, a man was fatally stabbed in another heavily wooded area on the opposite side of the park — the same area where two men were shot and wounded in October, 2005.
And a woman was raped inside the park in June, 2007.
Despite the violent nature of this week’s homicide, park users enjoyed the area as usual on Wednesday — and said they would continue to do so.
“I come to the park every day,” said Frank Ambroglio, of Park Slope. “It is one of the safest parks.”
Windsor Terrace resident Jim May said he feels safe in the park even at night.
“I’m very surprised that this happened, shocked,” he said.
