Metro

Crime spike’s no walk in the park

Crime is up in 20 of the city’s biggest parks over the last year, including three in Queens, according to NYPD data.

The number of major crimes counted in the 20 big parks rose by 8 percent, to 197, from July 2008 to June 2009, the records show.

Grand larceny — theft of property worth more than $1,000 — was the top crime, occurring 101 times. Robbery came in second, with 43 incidents.

The data compiled for the top 20 parks doesn’t include Central Park, which is its own police precinct.

From Jan. 1 through Oct. 18, the number of serious crimes dropped 27.5 percent in Central Park this year.

Three of the largest increases in crime occurred in Queens.

The total number of crimes in Cunningham Park skyrocketed to 29 from July 2008 to June 2009. It had only one in the preceding year.

Cops say the number of crimes in the park fell to zero after an arrest in July linked to car break-ins.

During the same period, the number of crimes in the 255-acre Flushing Meadows Corona Park spiked 31 percent, to 64, and crimes in Alley Pond Park about doubled, to 17.