The crime rate has always been high from Yale / Science Park area to quite a bit into Hamden.The crime rate and incidents have gone way up in the past year.All of this was discussed by concerned citizens / residents /on-line commentators - No answer was ever given as to how they will address the issue of crime on the trail . It's good to hear they have blue boxes and Segway patrols, But as in the case of daylight robberies at the State Agency on nearby Bassett Street , muggings in the presence of security guards , obviously they are not going to help much.Pushing them away or as in a few cases , paying them to go play somewhere else never worked , never will , you wasted your money , but not your time they have plenty of that (along with the wilding gangs)

I am truly sorry to hear about your husband's unfortunate encounter with 'thugs' and pray that he will be OK. . It is equally unfortunate that this is not the first time something like this has happened on this stretch of trail. When the trail was first being constructed, those of us that live, work, and go to church in the area of Division to the Hamden Line were well aware that turning the old Farmington Canal line into a bicyle/walking path was not a good idea. We know this part of the city very well and had expressed fears of what could possibly happen to those who were unfamiliar with this territory that would dare to bike or jog the 'Farmington Canal Greenway'. This stretch was advertised by the planners with such enticements as "Come enjoy rich history lessons and all the wonder that nature offers. Walk, run, bike or blade and enjoy a wonderful greenwayrail". I see families riding this trail across Bassett Street without looking for oncoming traffic because they 'expect' that cars will yield to them when they are in the crosswalk ... as they do elsewhere. This is a very dangerous assumption! I see persons jogging along the trail thru neighborhoods that I wouldn't walk thru, and I was born and raised in New Haven. I see designer sneakers, hi-tech electronics and smart looking bicycles up and down this path between Hillhouse Ave and Hamden, and I pray for the people who unwittingly traverse it thinking that everything will 'be okay' because of the pictures you see on the websites advertising it. What you don't see or read often about are the many crimes that have taken place on this stretch of the trail but there have been many since it was opened: Jan 2012 a man was shot near the line, Dec 2011 a mugging, Feb 2011 mugging, July 2012 two men mugged, April 2010 someone shot, and between December 2007 and January 2011 there were three sexual assaults on that line between Bassett and Hazel. I would encourage ANYONE who uses the trail to use it with extreme caution, travers it only during the daylight, and to NEVER TRAVEL ALONE.

What time of day the incident occur?

For what it's worth:
This is just a guess on my part, but I've long suspected that the Newhallville section of the trail is probably safer in the early morning and during cold weather. On the few occasions when I went through there late in the day (during warm months) -- I decided not to do it again at the same time -- there seemed to be more "possible troublemakers" around (6-8 standing in one spot, blocking the path, doing "wheelies" on their bikes, making a lot of noise, people standing behind the stone columns next to the street crossings, etc.). Early in the morning there are usually fewer people on that section of the trail, and the ones that are there seem better behaved. I've noticed the same thing in cold weather or if there's unplowed snow on the trail.

Please let us all know what time this attack occurred.

Hope this all works out well for you.

This is a very troublesome area and I'm always uneasy riding through it. If i'm alone, I try to crank through just as fast. Maybe we should be armed with mace or pepper spray and keep it in easy reach. It's a lawless area.

Speaking as someone who used to use the trail on a regular basis, but I no longer do, because of too many incidents - the trail is not safe South of Skiff St. If you want to get mugged, beaten or robbed, or worse then ride South of Skiff St., otherwise your better off taking your chances, with the cars, on Whitney Ave. and enjoy the northern Hamden to Cheshire part of the trail.

Good luck, New Haven. You need it. As for me, I'm getting the hell out of this dump.

The area is getting no better. Ugh. Yesterday, I was driving home from Walgreens down Shelton Ave. Right when I got to Bassett St. there was a group of about 20 guys, probably late teens to early twenties, on bikes, blocking the whole street. A huge fight broke out among them, which included throwing bricks. One guy got thrown into the side of my car, but didn't do any damage (to my car. Don't know about the guy, and quite frankly, with the way they were behaving, I don't care if he got banged up. Would serve him right.) Fortunately I was able to get out of there before anything happened to me, and I called 911, but that was a pretty scary few minutes there while I was trapped in the middle of them. DO SOMETHING, NEW HAVEN!!!

PS to Northhampton: Yes, people do report that it is quieter in the morning. The brave commuters who use this stretch of the trail every day say this.

PPS, sorry, Re patrols.

Honestly, I think this trail was a gift we aren't prepared for. It is a long trail running through many towns. This project did not consult with New Haven Police before coming through. Ultimately it is a good thing and will one day contribute to an increased quality of life along Dixwell Ave and the rest of the New Haven stretch, but I think it is a little unfair springing it on NHPD as something that should go to the top of its patrol priorities.

I think it should be patrolled and the crime there, especially the series of rapes that took place on it, already dictates that to police and has their attention.

But applying intensive patrols, a blitz of patrols on this trail, with the crime curbing demands on police citywide is a little unrealistic and wouldn't be prudent. The kind of patrols that would make it totally safe would deeply deprive the rest of the city of police services. I kid you not.

So the trail was kind of like one of those unfunded mandates: Hi, here is a new trail, new haven, through one of the most difficult high crime neighborhoods in your city - now blanket police it so users are totally safe from day one.

It is kind of like when someone gives you a new puppy at Christmas when you are collecting unemployment and can't even pay for your own doctor visits, never mind the Vet.

Yale police told me it is best not to be on that section of the trail after 3PM, but I actually don't use that section at all anymore. If I use it at all it is on bike - I wouldn't jog it - and I prefer not to bike it alone. Yale PD, which patrols the lower part of the trail as it approaches Yale/downtown, advise people pay attention, go in groups and stay off the trail at certain times.

It is a troublesome stretch of trail and discussions about it can often get strained and conflicted because there are those who are promoting its use heavily under the theory that increased use pushes crime out -- probably true but also a high personal price to pay if you get hurt. There are others who use it to commute to work alone every day and report no problems at all. They often add, that therefore, reporting adverse incidents is somehow wrong or exaggerating, or making it worse.

Still others acknowledge that everyone has to make their own decisions about their safety. I shared what my personal choice is about riding this section of the trail. Hill Resident's comments on this thread are true, including the daylight muggings at the state benefits office at the corner of Bassett- the trail - Dixwell. The DSS office has security guards. A guard was escorting someone to her car and they were mugged.

The corner is a hub for shootings. I arrived on my bike the same day a shooting was later reported at that corner. I just won't do it unless I were in a fairly large group. Not that that is a guarantee you won't catch a stray bullet if shooting breaks out.

This issue was recategorized from Other to Policing Issue.

This may be the same group of kids that cross from Cherry Ann St. over to Read St.

Don't bother to use the trail anywhere between Sachem St. and Skiff St., in Hamden, unless you enjoy the prospect of getting mugged, beaten and robbed. The section just north of Skiff St. is a bit sketchy too. And to all of you who will whine about how "it's not that bad", let your wife or daughter take a trip on it alone - yep, didn't think so...
The trail was a bad idea, from the beginning. It could have been turned into an express bus way, from Hamden plaza, to downtown New Haven. Now we are stuck with a financial and social liability which is already unusable, do to the crime and deteriorating pavement, which we all know will not be repaved anytime in the next ten years (at least).
I ride my bike all over town - Howard Ave., Whalley Ave., Whitney Ave. etc., but after a few incidents of having bottles thrown at me, on the canal trail, I will not ride on the canal trail and I tell everyone to avoid it.

Was predicted years ago before this section was built, and I was probably one of the forecasters,

Building a semi-isolated pathway thru a crime loaded neighborhood and inviting innocent unarmed folk to traverse it alone is like throwing fish-food in a fish tank of starving goldfish and not expecting a feeding-frenzy

Best idea is to close it down if you wish i people to be safe,

Exactly Walt. The head-in-the-clouds progressive liberals that encouraged building this section really have a warped perception of reality...as do most New Haven residents. Did ya really think this was a good idea for anyone except the criminals???

These "thugs" are STREET GANGS. I hope that cyclists and pedestrians keep reporting here to let others know of the dangers/most dangerous sections of the FC. I've recently had discussions with some cyclists about TFC safety, and some are very naive - they think these attacks are isolated incidents.

There are now regular New Haven PD bike patrols in this area. Neighborhood groups along with the Farmington Canal Rail to Trail Association and New Haven Friends of the Farmington Canal Greenway continue to work with Yale PD, Yale Security, New Haven PD, and Hamden PD to address public safety concerns. Please report any suspicious activity to NHPD district commander Ken Blanchard (kblancha@newhavenct.net).

Thanks for fixing this issue!