New York

The squad in stop-sign-red jackets and berets strode through Central Park, on guard for signs of crime.

It was a familiar sight a generation ago, when New York was plagued by lawlessness that police have worked for years to dispel. Yet Guardian Angels volunteers made a pointed return this month to Central Park for the first time in more than two decades, citing a 26 percent rise in crime there so far this year.

"We realize things are much better than they were" in the crime peak of the 1980s and early '90s, founder Curtis Sliwa says, but "we want it to stay that way."

City officials stress that crime is down citywide, and the park is far safer than it once was. Still, the renewed patrols by the Guardian Angels — known for both crime-fighting and controversy over their 35 years — are bright-red signals of unease about whether New York, touted for years as the nation's safest big city, is slipping.

Sliwa and eight other Guardian Angels, ranging from graying longtimers to a 20-year-old woman, trooped along roadways, paths and rocky, dark trails for hours, shining flashlights into thickets, asking people whether they'd had any trouble and eyeballing a quartet of teenagers who quickly took off on bicycles.

Onlookers' reactions ranged from thumbs up to raised eyebrows. "Time warp!" one passing jogger exclaimed.

"I didn't even know they were still in business," Harlem resident Christine Adebiyi said, but "it's great to see them here."