Parents Alarmed by Repeated Disturbances Near Girls’ Soccer Practices at Manhattan’s Gansevoort Peninsula

A man wearing a penis mask is seen near a soccer field and a girls’ soccer camp at Gansevoort Peninsula.J.C. Rice for NY Post

Parents, coaches and workers at Manhattan’s Gansevoort Peninsula say they are increasingly concerned about disruptive and sometimes threatening behavior around a soccer field used by young children, after a series of incidents involving people experiencing homelessness near the waterfront park.

The latest confrontation unfolded Wednesday morning, when a man wearing an explicit novelty mask stood less than 20 feet from girls practicing soccer, according to the New York Post, whose journalists witnessed the scene. The man shouted, removed his shirt and later had to be escorted away from the field by park personnel.

For families who regularly use the field, however, the episode was not viewed as an isolated disturbance. Parents say the same area has repeatedly drawn groups whose behavior has included public intoxication, aggressive confrontations and other incidents they consider inappropriate around children.

Father says masked man approached girls during practice

The rowdy vagrants have become a regular presence around the Gansevoort Peninsula field.J.C. Rice for NY Post

Jason Fernández was watching his daughter practice with Gotham Girls Football Club when he became uneasy about the masked man’s behavior.

Fernández said the man began waving toward the girls, prompting him to return because the interaction gave him a bad feeling.

“It’s extremely concerning,” Fernández said, arguing that more needs to be done to protect children using the park.

His concern reflects a broader frustration among families who say they are caught between recognizing that vulnerable people may need assistance and wanting a public sports facility to remain safe and suitable for children.

Fernández said the people causing problems need help, but argued that the lack of an effective response has left other park users dealing with the consequences.

Witnesses describe a pattern of troubling incidents

The creeps were just feet away from the girls practicing soccer at Gansevoort Peninsula on the Hudson River.J.C. Rice for NY Post

The masked man was reportedly one of several people who regularly gather around the Gansevoort Peninsula field. According to residents cited in the report, some members of the group drink near a Mobil station on Eighth Avenue before heading toward Hudson River Park.

Their numbers can reportedly grow to around a dozen.

During Wednesday’s incident, another individual was asleep on a bench near the children, while a separate man was lying near a goalpost. Another person approached people for money.

More serious allegations have also emerged from people who regularly visit the area.

Dog walker Geronimo Silva told the Post that roughly a week earlier, he witnessed two people engaging in sexual activity on a nearby bench during the afternoon.

Another parent alleged that a person nicknamed “Fire Bug” had set fire to park benches while children were practicing nearby. Fernández pointed to what appeared to be burn marks on one of the benches.

Those claims have not been independently established beyond the eyewitness accounts reported in the original story.

Coaches say they have had to intervene

About a dozen homeless people hung out around the sports field at Gansevoort Peninsula.Helayne Seidman for the NY Post

Soccer coach Saad Afif, owner of Manhattan Football Training, said the problems have affected practices at Gansevoort Peninsula.

Unlike facilities where playing areas are more separated from surrounding public spaces, Afif said the field’s open layout means people can simply walk toward the children.

On several occasions, he said, he has personally intervened or contacted security when someone came too close to practices.

Parents have also raised concerns about the park bathrooms. They told the Post that some people have washed themselves while unclothed inside the facilities while children were also using them.

A park worker said young visitors are consequently being exposed to situations they should not have to encounter.

Vendors report threats and intimidation

The Parks Department eventually removed the vagrants after getting complaints.J.C. Rice for NY Post

The complaints are not limited to parents and coaches.

A 26-year-old worker at a nearby food kiosk said some of the same individuals repeatedly approach employees seeking free food and can become aggressive when refused.

According to the worker, threatening encounters occur roughly twice a week and often involve the same people.

The employee described being subjected to intimidating statements, including suggestions that someone had something concealed in a bag.

Park employees have also reportedly faced confrontations while attempting to move people away from the soccer field.

During Wednesday’s intervention, workers once again escorted the masked man away from the area after his behavior drew attention.

A $73 million waterfront park facing persistent problem

The masked menace also had a Groucho Marx mask he put on as his buddy flipped the bird.J.C. Rice for NY Post

The controversy is particularly striking because of the setting.

Gansevoort Peninsula opened in 2023 following a $73 million redevelopment. The 5.5-acre section of Hudson River Park includes a large sports field, waterfront areas, a beach and boardwalk space.

It sits in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District, across the West Side Highway from the Whitney Museum.

Yet complaints involving homelessness around the site are not entirely new. Encampments in the area were dismantled twice during the previous summer, according to the Post.

Parents now say the situation has returned and that some of the behavior has become increasingly brazen.

City agencies face questions over response

The masked menace has been a regular presence at Gansevoort Peninsula.J.C. Rice for NY Post

There is also a significant discrepancy between what parents say they encounter and what appears in official complaint records.

The NYPD told the Post that it had not responded to incidents at the location this year, while the report said there were no corresponding 311 complaints.

The Department of Homeless Services, meanwhile, said Gansevoort Peninsula was “not a known hotspot.”

The department nevertheless said it would monitor the location and offer shelter and other services to vulnerable people encountered there.

That response has done little to ease the frustration of families who say disturbances continue.

Parents describe a recurring pattern: park workers arrive, individuals leave the immediate area, and some return shortly afterward.

Lee, whose daughter also plays for Gotham Girls Football Club, said that even when park personnel intervene, the relief can be temporary.

Girls as young as five were practicing soccer in the sports field at Gansevoort Peninsula.Helayne Seidman for NY Post

“The parks people come around every now and then, but the homeless just leave and come back 10 minutes later,” she said.

For families using the waterfront field, the controversy is now about more than a single masked man or one chaotic morning. Their central concern is whether a public park specifically designed for recreation can remain a place where young children can practice sports without parents constantly watching the sidelines for the next disturbance.