Pheffer Amato demands better security in park following Karina Vetrano murder

One week after the release of private security camera footage showing Karina Vetrano moments before her murder, the NYPD has received 104 tips, including some with new information, but the case remains unsolved. The video captures the 30-year-old Howard Beach jogger near Spring Creek Park Aug. 2, just before 6 p.m. where she was beaten, strangled and sexually assaulted, according to police. Now a candidate for the state Assembly is calling for increased security measures at the Gateway National Recreation Area just to the south. Stacey Pheffer Amato is taking the National Park Service to task for “inadequate” safety infrastructure, asking them to install security cameras and emergency blue lights in Gateway National Recreation Area, the vast urban park that includes the Jamaica Wildlife Refuge with many deserted trails. “Security cameras are an essential law enforcement tool that help to deter illegal activity and aid local law enforcement in criminal investigat­ion,” Pheffer Amato said. “It is unthinkable that in this day and age, in an urban park like Gateway, we don’t have cameras and other infrastructure to keep an eye on the area and aid visitors in distress. I urge the National Park Service to recognize the unique needs of our urban parkland and install the infrastructure that will keep our families safe.”...more