The thrill is gone.
Cops citywide issued just two public lewdness summonses to people knocking boots in public parks in 2020 — according to the most recent NYPD stats.
The number is a far cry from the shocking 432 tickets police wrote for the bawdy offense in 2007, and even seven years later, when 115 people were caught canoodling al fresco, stats show.
By 2018, the number of folks cited for hooking up in a park — a summons that carries a $150 fine and only issued if a cop witnesses the act — tumbled to eight. None were issued in 2019. The NYPD has yet to release numbers for 2021 or this year.
Experts said there are several reasons for the precipitous drop — and those who have done the dirty deed in public told The Post it’s simply better to avoid parks, and get it on instead in nightclubs, bathrooms and even cultural institutions.
“My then-boyfriend and I had sex in an art museum exhibit because it was really dark and quiet and we thought it would be funny,” said Victoria Sloane, 30, of Brooklyn, adding the sex left a lot to be desired.
“It wasn’t good sex because it was rushed; we didn’t get caught then, somehow. But I’m glad I did it!”
Others said they’d definitely take another stab.
“I hooked up [with] a spontaneous random person … It was appealing because I ran away afterwards and didn’t have to pay for the karaoke room or see that person again,” said a Manhattan resident in the publishing industry, who said the primary draw of her three-year-old encounter was the anonymity.
“No number was exchanged and there was no chance of running into them again. I’d do it again, not with the same person.”
And like anything else in the Big Apple — it’s all about location, location, locaiton.
“There’s a beautiful single occupancy bathroom and we went in there to pee and realized it was a good place to do it. Also we were both girls so it probably didn’t look suspicious that we entered and exited at the same time,” said a 30-year-old Reddit user and Upper West Side resident who took her chances in the Museum of Natural History right before the pandemic in 2019.
Michael Alcazar, an adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and former NYPD detective and vice cop, said the risks of encountering police — or unsavory characters — on the streets are why al fresco lovers are thinking twice.
“There is a justifiable fear of being caught in a compromising position — given the rising tide of street crimes occurring in New York City. There’s just a climate of unsafety throughout the five boroughs. Even for the most sexually daring!”
Meanwhile, a study by Rutgers University in 2021 found that millennials and Gen Z have less casual sex on average than previous generations, opting instead to play video games and scroll on their phones.
They also drink less booze, the study found.
Additional reporting by Dean Balsamini