File photo of Riverside Park bike and pedestrian path by Howard Brier.
A bicyclist racing “unbelievably fast” in Riverside Park slammed into a 2-year-old girl on Saturday night and biked away before authorities showed up, according to a witness who contacted Gothamist about the crash.
The crash occurred around 95th street inside the park on the shared bike-pedestrian path next to the Hudson River at about 6 p.m. Saturday. Witness Joshua Sperber said the toddler had head injuries.
“The girl appeared to be in shock, had an immediate severe bruise on her face, and suffered what seemed to be a seizure,” he wrote in an email.
Sperber says the woman on the bicycle stopped to apologize.
“She said, ‘I’m so sorry; I’m so sorry. I didn’t see her at all,'” Sperber remembers. The parents ignored her, and the cyclist became loud and more insistent, saying, “I’m sorry! I didn’t expect to see her right in the middle of the path.”
Sperber said he left after about 25 minutes, and no ambulance had shown up yet. FDNY said an ambulance came at 6:18 and drove the child to Mount Sinai St. Luke’s hospital. Police are now looking for the cyclist, described as a woman with chin-length brown hair who is about 50 years old, stands 5-foot-9 and weighs around 140 pounds. She could be charged with failure to exercise due care resulting in serious injury, which carries a possible fine of $750 and up to 15 days in jail.
Police describe the woman’s bike as “multi-colored,” and though Sperber didn’t pay close attention to it, he is sure it wasn’t a beach cruiser. “This was not a leisurely bike ride,” he said. “This was a hardcore exercise routine.” He said he hopes the authorities find the woman so that she has to answer to the victim’s family, and potentially pay their medical bills.
Read the full account at Gothamist.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS (8477). The public can also submit tips anonymously by logging onto the Crime Stoppers Website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM or texting 274637(CRIMES), then entering TIP577.
I wonder how closely this child was being watched and what she was doing in the bike lane. Not saying it wasn’t the biker’s fault, but I have seen a lot of oblivious and inconsiderate behavior from pedestrians on the Greenway.
no matter, the brave, observant cyclist left the scene so it’s the child watchers fault for sure you moron. Just be careful and keep a good watch out before one of these observant, law abiding cyclists gets YOU!
You’re kidding right? Hope so.
It’s not a bike lane, it’s a shared pathway. Huge difference. People who want to ride at an high rate of speed should used riverside drive. And obey stop lights. If you’re wearing full cycling gear and going >12 miles an hour, you’re being incredibly careless on that shared pathway.
Yeah, it’s good for both bikers AND pedestrians to exercise caution in that stretch for sure. Even at reasonable speeds somebody obliviously stepping into a biker’s path will get hurt.
SEEKING PSYCHIATRISTS!
Psychiatrists needed to explain why so many, many recreational bicyclists (NOT deliverymen)are such SMUG, ARROGANT, INSENSITIVE, SELFISH, SOCIOPATHS who think laws and decency DO NOT APPLY TO THEM!
Someone needs to explain how to stop them from:
1. blasting through red lights WITHOUT USING A BELL, HORN, OR OTHER WARNING DEVICE;
2. riding on the sidewalk even though they are NOT under 12 years of age;
3)and generally acting like the selfish me-first louts that they probably criticize everyone else but THEMSELVES for being!
Hopefully incidents like the above will finally cause people to do something about these hooligans.
IT’S ABOUT TIME WE STOP THEM!!
I honestly believe they think the bike is an extension of themselves–the thing is, I think many peds do, too. These people are riding on fast metal vehicles, and everybody would be a lot safer if we all treated them as such.
I was always under the assumption that witnesses to a crime are supposed to stay until the police arrive. I think both the woman on the bicycle and the witness should have stayed. Is this not the case? I have no love lost for bicyclists as I was severely injured when I was hit from the side and didn’t see the bike coming. If the child was being supervised wouldn’t at least one adult have time to pull her out of the path of an oncoming bike? You would see a bike traveling that fast and realize there was a danger, correct?
“wouldn’t at least one adult have time to pull her out of the path of an oncoming bike? You would see a bike traveling that fast and realize there was a danger, correct?” – lynn
Using this logic, then anyone hit by a bike only have themselves (in this case, their parents) to blame. I don’t agree.
So sad & scary. There are a lot of aggressive, “weekend warrior” cyclists that ride there…and a lot of runners/pedestrians who don’t always stay in the designated paths. (not always clearly marked or consistent) A little common courtesy in a Public Park goes a long way.
shared bike-pedestrian path
Shared guys and girls bikes should not be traveling fast on a shared path period.
I’ve posted similar thoughts on this topic before, but the cyclists in Riverside Park are a HUGE problem. (They’re an issue in Central Park, too, but less so because there is room for everyone to spread out.) I walk or run in Riverside Park pretty much every day, and there simply isn’t enough room on the shared pedestrian/bicycle path to accommodate everyone. Add to that the fact that many of the cyclists ride way too fast–and don’t use bells, or slow down for pedestrians–and you have a major safety hazard. (And it’s not the tourists or casual Citibike riders who are causing the problem, either…) More often than not, I spend my run looking over my shoulder to avoid cyclists, and can’t really enjoy it until I get to the “pedestrians only” section of the path. The park should create separate bicycle and pedestrian lanes along the entire path, and if that isn’t feasible, they need to do a better job of ticketing cyclists.
I’m with you 200%, especially the ticketing piece (are cyclists in Riverside Park even ticketed?).
Twice I’ve been hit from behind by a cyclist on a shared path – once while 9 months pregnant and the other time whilst pushing a newborn in a stroller – and twice has the cyclist glared at me and sounded deeply resentful that I inconveinced them by being “in the way” for them to hit. I got a quick “sorry” in one of these two instances.
I walk along that ‘shared path’ as well and am convinced that inevitably someone will be killed or maimed by a speeding bike. Alas that will have to happen before anyone actually does something about this problem. God forbid bikers would have to dismount for a few blocks.
Without any of us being witness to the events that occurred we actually don’t know who is at fault. It could very well be that the biker was at fault or just as likely that the child wasn’t supervised and ended up in the path of the cyclist. Obviously it sucks that the child was hurt but let’s not be quick to blame the cyclist without any evidence to support such a claim. Are some cyclist careless and ride fast? Yes! Are some kids careless and lack observational awareness? Yes! Are parents careless and don’t pay attention when walking with their children either on a shared bike path or when crossing the street? Yes! Plenty of blame to go around.
“H” is are a rare voice of reason here.
An unsupervised toddler isn’t going to kill someone by walking in the middle of a pathway. Biker is at fault here. NYC isn’t the place to train for the tour de france – I’m sick of the arrogance and “it’s everyone else’s fault, not mine.”
Obviously the likelihood of a toddler killing someone by walking into the path of a cyclist is remote but that’s not the argument here. You’re making a judgement they the cyclist is at fault based on what evidence? It’s arrogant for you to make such an assumption. Most of the recent deaths of pedestrians by cars around 96th street over the last year or more were due primarily to careless pedestrians crossing when they aren’t supposed to. As I mentioned nobody knows the facts as we were not witness to this event but to say all blame belongs to the cyclists is illogical.
Looks like we need to see some statistics.
Haha! Perhaps statistics could help in determining certain “danger zones” on that path so I’ll give you that one Mark. I’ll try to be as grammatically correct as possible when I write this but when does mixing potentially fast moving vehicles with slower moving walking humans not result in accidents? Without some kind of enforcement of speed, keeping walking and running humans in designated paths, these problems will continue to occur. Maybe it is time to convert this path to either an all bike or all walking/scenic view intake or just running path. I stopped running around the Central Park reservoir because of so many picture takers/children walking/strollers strolling, etc…This path has similar issues.
Is the pedestrian ever at fault?
This type of ridiculous comment is always made with regard to cyclist vs. pedestrian and car vs. pedestrian. I would like to strangle the person that thinks this is a logical argument.
Even at a moderate pace a toddler jumping in front of a bike isn’t going to end well. We don’t know the facts.
Suggesting that the parents were somehow at fault for a two year old’s collision with a racing biker is beyond the pale. I have seen bikers have a total meltdown because they were inconvenienced by someone crossing their path, one calling a mother with stroller the C word because he had to use his GD brakes. I ride my bike on that path. It’s too crowded for anything but a slow, leisurely pace. Other bikers zip by as if they own the road. It’s frightening. Frankly, I think bikes should be banned from Riverside.
So you know for a fact that the rider was going fast? And that the parents were using extreme caution? SMH! Could the child not be at fault? Couldn’t enough blame to around? I see that people on this site don’t like to use unbiased critical thinking.
The quote “unbelievably fast” was used by a witness. If it’s a shared pedestrian/bike path, then I strongly believe the bikers shouldn’t be going top speed. It’s irresponsible.
+1 on that comment.
Some of the bike riders on that path are truly out of control.
Ban the spandex suits and slow them down.
+2 (still wish we had the ability to upvote comments here!!) I don’t know that bikes need to be banned outright, but they SHOULD divide the path into cyclist and pedestrian lanes, with some kind of physical divider in between, or ask cyclists to walk their bikes on the shared sections. The best part of the path is the area by the Pier I Cafe, because there are NO bicycles allowed.
As a bike commuter to work, I would LOVE if the entire path along riverside were physically separated into bike only vs pedestrian only lanes. However, even when it is, there are ALWAYS pedestrians in the bike only lane. There is some signage that says “NO PEDESTRIANS IN BIKE LANE”, and pedestrians completely ignore it or miss it. Signage needs to be more frequent, and preferably painted on the path itself. I suspect the silhouette of the roller blader (which differs from the silhouette of the pedestrian by way of wheels and a helmet) is too subtle a distinction for many pedestrians.
Yes, some cyclists break the rules, and I shake my head at them as a cyclist myself as much as pedestrians do. It boils my blood to see cyclists riding the wrong way, riding on sidewalks, cutting pedestrians off when they have the light, etc. However Pedestrians also need to treat bikes as they do cars; stop running in bike-only lanes (you wouldn’t run in the middle of a street), stop crossing the path of a cyclist who has a green light, and you wouldn’t let your child play unsupervised right next to traffic, so don’t do it right next to a shared bike path. I don’t know if that’s what happened here, but it’s certainly possible, so banning bikes outright is not the answer.
As another avid cyclist, I also agree 100%. Cyclists need to calm down. Pedestrians ALWAYS have the right-of-way, although they need to keep their wits about them and act considerately. Probably the most useful sign on the shared paths are the ones which say “Respect Others”.
I’m with you, Kate. As an avid biker, I do love the “path.” But, on the hours when toddlers toddle, we need to be on the extra alert for danger to them. Just as we hope drivers are on the alert for us, when we have to crossover to city traffic.
There isn’t a bike path in the city that isn’t occupied by pedestrians, runners, dog walkers, skateboarders, and vendors moving their food carts.
Still, everyone beats up on cyclists.
Of all the places to let your child walk, why chose a bike path? there are plenty of safer places to graze and so few to bike, yet WSR readers are so often coming down on cyclists. curious as to where my fellow upper west siders think biking is appropriate.
as usual, the comments related to any article involving bikes are disgusting. very sad a child was hurt. how anyone can think it’s anyone’s fault but the parents’ is beyond me.
This is the Riverside Park PROMENADE, a place for leisurely strolls and leisurely cycling, not speeding bikes! I’ve seen several pedestrian-bike collisions in the narrow stretch from 72nd to 83rd Streets, and it got more treacherous after the Greenway was extended from The Battery to the GWB. Hard to even relax on a park bench with so many speeding cyclists whizzing by one’s feet. And it’s like crossing a 4-lane highway to go from that park bench to the Promenade’s railing to enjoy the Hudson River views.
The Parks Dept. added speed bumps and some fencing near the Boat Basin to discourage speeding, but that hasn’t deterred many cyclists from using the Promenade as a raceway. The shared pathway is just too narrow for separate pedestrian and bike lanes and certainly cannot accommodate speeding cyclists. Something’s gotta give. Post and enforce a low speed limit for bicyclists or don’t allow them to “share” the Promenade.
I agree. I’ve ridden up and down the West side on the greenway and I CONSTANTLY see pedestrians walking the wrong way, in the wrong lanes. For the most part I never have issues, but I see quite a bit of inconsiderate morons walking two and three people abreast. Everyone needs to be aware of their surroundings and have some consideration for others. The animosity toward bikes is silly. Pedestrians have miles upon miles of sidewalks in this city. There are only so many bike “paths.”
Sigh. James, it’s not a bike path. It’s a “shared bike-pedestrian path,” just like it says. As a few people posted, we don’t know what really happened, so we don’t know who’s at fault. It could have been the parents, it could have been the biker. Saying “how anyone can think it’s anyone’s fault but the parents’ is beyond me” is bizarre. If the cyclist was barreling down the road at an insane speed without paying attention, then guess what? It’s the cyclist’s fault. If the parents were staring at their iPhones while their kid ran all over, it’s the parents’ fault. Just like you don’t want anyone blaming the cyclist, how about you don’t just to conclusions and blame the parents? Cool? Cool.
You’re a biker. No. Not cool, baby blue. To repeat: Excuse here. The relativism here is highly concerning. I am in the park often and (okay it’s not ALL of you cyclists, admitted, but) I have witnessed the disregard of a preponderance of some and we have this year alone several sad stories of fatal accidents due solely to the dual-wheeled fanatic. So, again, Take Notice: It is the cyclists’ duty, and duty ALONE, and obligation and legal mandate to watch out for pedestrians who have legal right of way; it says so on ALL the signage thereat. Maybe should be required to take defensive safety courses before they are permitted to operate race cycles. Even maybe, you cyclists should be relegated to the West Side Highway; then they would understand what it’s like to be in the park when dangerous conditions prevail at speeds inappropriate to the setting of the walkways they like to pretend are there FOR THEM as they are trying to race their bikes at inordinate velocities playing kings of the road. I see something like this occur, you’ll stay put and you are not going anywhere and I throw the f’g bike into the river you make a move to do so. Inexcusable sociopath behavior. You nail someone, especially, a kid, in the f’g park the only decent areas for kids in our urban complex/city and it’s not your fault?? You break it, you own it, baby. Peace.
I agree with you 100%. My gut is to blame the biker, as I have seen way too many reckless bikers going way too fast through Riverside Park with no concern for the people around them. They should go at a leisurely pace until they get across the bridge to NJ, where there is room to really ride fast. But this is not something they believe in.
On the other hand, as the parent of a similar aged child, I know that if I was not supervising her well, she would be very likely to wander aimlessly around, potentially into the path of oncoming bikers and pedestrians. Even a biker going at a very reasonable speed would be challenged to avoid a toddler going in unpredictable directions. A busy place like that is not somewhere to let your child loose.
So we don’t know exactly what the circumstances are. My bet is that it is the biker’s fault, but I would not guarantee it.
JUMP to conclusions, not “just to conclusions.” Grrr.
When pedestrians and bicyclists share any path like this one along the Hudson, the bike speed must be a POSTED 5 MPH. Too many bicyclists have been acting recklessly here. Some enforcement would also be nice mayor de buffoonio….
Someone should have snapped a picture of the bicyclist with their phone. Regardless of fault she should have stayed in the area. How is this different from a hit and run with an automobile?
Do we know how this little girl is doing?
Y’know, if this happened on the greenway, I think they’d say that. Don’t you guys think it happened in what we typically think of as Riverside Park proper? It’s very common to see racing cyclists come off of Riverside Drive into the park at the point we’d be talking about. If that’s the case, there’s no defense for the cyclist.
What is alarming to me (including the fact a child was hit by a bicyclist) that an eye witness said: “no ambulance came for the 25 or so minutes”. That is a long time for an ambulance to arrive. The city average response is usually within 9 minutes. This poor kid probably didn’t see a doctor until 40 minutes later. When did the police respond and arrive at the scene? Obviously they did not get there earlier because the cyclist had time to recover from the accident and leave the scene.
This would be an easy investigative journalism piece. Are response times slowing down for ambulance calls on the UWS? If so why? Are ambulance services biased? This isn’t an isolated incident. Back in 2013 there was a lawsuit filed because the dispatch service delayed a response by 4 minutes after a 4-year-old girl was hit by a 17-year-old unlicensed SUV driver. I’ve personally seen ambulances take 45 minutes to pick up elderly patients with head injuries and car & pedestrian accident 20 minutes for pickup.
Normally I’d agree with you, but bear in mind that this shared pathway is right on the water, and accessing it requires walking a stiff decline if coming from the west or trekking up on foot several blocks’ worth of park space if approaching from the south or north. It’s not an easy spot to reach, especially while schlepping ambulance bed/equipment.
Or maybe the EMTs were on time but got slowed down by the maniac cyclists rufusing to cede the shared road…
Here is why we are “jumping to conclusions” that it was the cyclist’s fault. Ready?
“I’m sorry! I didn’t expect to see her right in the middle of the path.”
Exactly. That is why the cyclist is to blame. Path markings or not, Riverside is a recreational area, and like it or not, proper or not, the fact is that people wander. Kids wander. If you are riding a bike there, you HAVE to expect people or animals to have crossed over into a different lane. And yep, it’s annoying, but there are no concrete barriers. It’s not a highway. It’s an area full of families. It’s cyclists’ responsibilities to be vigilant and expect the unexpected. Simply slowing down solves the problem.
As a cyclist that frequents Riverside Park I have to agree. There is no excuse for this behavior. The ideal solution would be to have a grade separation between the pedestrian area and the cycling area but there is not enough width to do this effectively. To make matters worse the cyclist left the scene of an accident where she could have potentially inflicted life altering injuries to a two year old…disgusting!
To make the park work better a redesign is in order. Grade separation or completely different facilities like the portion of the bike lane underneath the Henry Hudson Pkwy are needed. In the mean time please slow down on the shared portions of the path. If you want to get a really good workout then get up early and ride to Nyack.
Agreed with Zulu and DR. Infrastructure design that creates a shared space between people traveling at vastly different speeds will necessarily result in collisions. Good behavior and caution will mitigate the risk, and the cyclist is undeniably at fault if they were traveling recklessly, but this will continue to happen.
Speed limits (enforced) are an easy first step. But more should be done to discourage high pace cyclists from using it. The path should really be for commuting cyclists and low pace riders, period. And honestly, real cyclists only ride on the surface streets. It’s like the cars vs. cars/trucks/buses on the NJ turnpike. One is for drivers, the other is for idiots (cars only).
More to the real point, here — does anyone know how the child is doing? Really tragic. The description of injuries sounds grave.
If only the NYPD responded to cars killing pedestrians like they did to this!
Without seeing the accident it’s difficult to blame anyone. I have personally been WALKING in RSP and almost tripped up over a child who happened to run into my “walking lane”. It’s crowded and only takes 3 seconds for a child (or adult) to put themselves and those around them at risk.
I’m a cyclist and have never even considered riding in RSP, it’s simply too dangerous even when riding leisure while exercising caution.
There’s no defense for having forged a bike path into what had been designed for, and exclusively used as, a pedestrian path. I surmise that this notion was concocted by some PR person, politician or the bike industry/lobby just so NYC could boast of a continuous path to the end of Manhattan.
What it has done is turn a walk along the Hudson from a peaceful experience into a no-no, nerve-racking and dangerous undertaking that has kept many of us away now for years.
The idea of a partition? How would you get two bike and (presumably) one or two pedestrian lanes into, for instance, that narrow strip from approximately 72nd Street going north?
I’m not against bikes. And it’s natural for bikers to want to speed; we have all known this from childhood; it’s part of the pleasure and the challenge, and it’s healthful. That is why bikers need their own space.
This seems to be quite a hot topic! I wasn’t there and didn’t witness this scene, but my 2 cents-bikers should be much more respectful of pedestrians on shared paths and pedestrians need to be much more mindful of where they (or their kids!) are walking. It’s a SHARED PATH. Everyone can use it and no one should abuse it!
The cyclist is at fault because:
A. They admitted fault.
B. Pedestrians have the right of way.
C. They were obviously traveling too fast to avoid hitting the child.
Having spent years in Colorado where cyclists are mostly courteous and observe reasonable safety precautions, I have to laugh at the weekend warriors who think they are baddass zipping down the path by the Hudson. My mind goes to the rider’s in the canyons above Boulder or around Leadville who are truly badass and not just poseurs with enough money to by all the fancy gear but wouldn’t know a real hill climb if it bit them in the ass. Wow, riding fast on a level path is soooo hard. I know I’m impressed.
Actually we don’t know that the cyclist admitted fault. We know what a witness wrote in an email about what transpired. But even if the witness’ account is 100% accurate, we still can’t determine fault as we don’t know whether the cyclist was going fast, wasn’t paying attention, etc… or the child ran haphazardly into the path of the cyclist where the cyclist couldn’t react quick enough. Even at a low rate of speed a collision between an adult on a bike and a child is likely to result the child being injured. Many here on this post are making assumptions based on limited information from a “witness”. It sucks that a child is hurt but to automatically assume the cyclist is 100% at fault is not clear, rational thinking.
A. She didn’t admit fault; she admitted that she had a collision with the child.
B. Pedestrians do not have an absolute right-of-way. Check NYC vehicular laws before making such a general statement.
C. You have no idea how fast she was traveling or any other facts of the situation.
Just ban the spandex “Ooh, I’m Lance Armstrong!” outfits.
The zoom-zooms wouldn’t be *seen* riding in ordinary clothes. Besides, if the riders were wearing the same clothes as everyone else, everyone else might not be drawn to notice the expensive bicycles they were riding. And then, what’s the point of riding at all, really?
Voila! Problem solved.
I join others here in hoping the child is OK.
I believe (from experience) that the cyclists who wear the Lycra outfits do so because the shorts are constructed with material and special padding that makes riding long distances (which they do) way more comfortable, and the jerseys have special material as well as pockets to achieve a similar result. No different than a skier who wears ski pants/jacket — you dont NEED to wear them, but it makes skiing a hell of a lot more comfortable…
As an aside, most “lycra-clad” cyclists avoid the Greenway and other shared paths (ie Central) during the day (particularly weekends) because of the fact that you cannot and should not go fast. The few that do use it, and speed, are —holes. Of the hundreds and hundreds of cyclists who use the Greenway every day, the huge majority (including those who wear lycra) respect the fact that it is a shared path, and ride safely. Remember, a cyclist who hits someone is also in danger of serious injury…
Those Lycra shorts make their tushies look nice.
So basically your suggestion is to make cyclists wear “ordinary clothing” because the only reason they wear “spandex” or clothing that suits the activity they are engaging in as a cyclist is to draw attention to their expensive bikes? Really? Um, OK! Wow!
It’s a stereotype. And like most stereotypes, grounded in some truth.
How about suggesting a solution that complies with the laws in this country re: freedom to dress as you wish. I can’t think of a more bone-headed idea.
He’s kidding. It’s a joke. Sheesh.
Why didn’t Sperber or someone take the cyclist’s picture? Toddlers toddle. 50 year old women can and should seek appropriate places to “train”. The mix of pedestrian and the omnipresent bike zealots is a toxic mixture. Mayor DeBlasio’s political debt to Transportation Alternatives is inimical to public safety.
Coalition Against Rogue Riding
Toddlers toddle. 50 year old bike zealots should seek appropriate locations to train hard. Why did not Sperber or someone take a picure? Mayor De Blasio’s poltical debt to Transportation Alternatives is racking up
a body count inimical to public safety.
It’s scary to think that so many of the comments here pass a judgment when none know more than what is in this article.
I hope I never have to face a jury of my peers. It’s pretty clear that people make up their mind based on preconceived biases and convince themselves that they are right, irrespective of the presentation of actual facts.
Toddlers toddle. Why didn’t Sperber or someone take a picture? The bike zealots
are racking up an increasing number of bodies
at the cost of public safety. Mayor DeBlasio needs to consider his political debt to Transportation Alternatives PAID in full.
There are many more voters concerned about safety than the minority of the TA mailing
advocating disruption and bike bedlam.
I don’t understand the headline here. This wasn’t a hit and run with a car where it is a crime to leave the scene. What reason would the biker have to stick around? “Failure to exercise due care”? Seems like the cops are really grasping at straws here to try to passify the parents. It was an accident in a bike lane. Just bc we don’t like something doesn’t make it criminal.
Has everyone forgotten the cardinal traffic rule (and yes, bikes are subject to it) that the pedestrian always has the right of way? If a car had hit this child, even if the child had wandered into the street, we would be judging the driver much more harshly than many are this rider.
You’re flat out wrong. Pedestrians do NOT always have the right-of-way unless they’re legally crossing/walking where and when they’re supposed to. A driver or cyclist who collides with a pedestrian in that case is usually absolved because of the pedestrian’s causing the situation. It’s attitudes like yours that create most of the friction between pedestrians and other modes of transport.
I walk that path consistently and yes it truly is a hazard…The city should either make it a “bike path” or a “pedestrian walkway” both cannot be shared…It’s like walking in traffic…sooner or later you are going to get hit..
How sad, but how predictable. Bike riders sharing the same narrow space with people strolling, especially when the spandex-clad bikers think that they are in the Tour de France, is bound to result in pedestrian injuries if not fatalities. The Parks Department has been totally irresponsible in not finding a solution to this problem.
Excuse here. The relativism here is highly concerning. I am in the park often and (okay it’s not ALL of you cyclists, admitted, but) I have witnessed the disregard of a preponderance of some and we have this year alone several sad stories of fatal accidents due solely to the dual-wheeled fanatic. So, again, Take Notice: It is the cyclists’ duty, and duty ALONE, and obligation and legal mandate to watch out for pedestrians who have legal right of way; it says so on ALL the signage thereat. Maybe should be required to take defensive safety courses before they are permitted to operate race cycles. Even maybe, you cyclists should be relegated to the West Side Highway; then they would understand what it’s like to be in the park when dangerous conditions prevail at speeds inappropriate to the setting of the walkways they like to pretend are there FOR THEM as they are trying to race their bikes at inordinate velocities playing kings of the road. I see something like this occur, you’ll stay put and you are not going anywhere and I throw the f’g bike into the river you make a move to do so. Inexcusable sociopath behavior. You nail someone, especially, a kid, in the f’g park the only decent areas for kids in our urban complex/city and it’s not your fault?? You break it, you own it, baby. Peace.
And no one had a camera phone or smart phone??
Breaking: Justice served as bicyclist hit by bus.
Ok. I’ll say it. I’m a native NYer and just sick of bikers. Especially ones like this horrible lady (who didn’t act like a human being and stay around–it was a TWO YEAR OLD!!) Also, the idiot cyclists who ride in the streets and disregard traffic lights.
Riverside Park is NOT a bike lane. It’s a shared pathway. I hope they find this creep and I truly hope she goes to jail for it, even if it’s for a few days.
Gonna copy-paste what I wrote on the original Gothamist reporting here:
So, the outer-quarters of the Hudson esplanade are for pedestrians, and the two middle quarters are for cyclists and rollerbladers. There are pavement markings that indicate this — though there’s a reconstruction project that’s been going on the last few weeks that’s scrubbed out some of those markings for now — as well as signage telling slower users to stay to the right-hand side, passing traffic to pass to the left.
So different modes of travel aren’t rigorously separated here, but it is not really an anything-goes free for all either.
It’s also _very_ busy there in nice weather. By all measures, it’s the busiest bike path in the nation. And on a nice weekend day, it’s gonna be a poopshow amateur hour there. You gotta keep a 2-year-old on tight rein there.
—
All that said, FFS cyclist lady, you’ve got to have your head on a swivel if you’re riding here on a nice weekend day, and slow way down at any signs of chaos or congestion. I can imagine a circumstance where it wasn’t really the cyclist’s fault — like, the 2-year-old had been sitting on one of the benches, but suddenly stood up and ran full speed across the path perpendicular to her line of travel — but have trouble seeing the odds of this are better than 10%. At least a 90% chance this was preventable had the cyclist exercised more caution.
There need to be laws established regulating bicycle speeds particularly in those stretches of the park which are shared with pedestians. It is even unsafe for bicyclists when other bicyclists race in the park. I find bicyclists dangerous in not only Central Park but Riverside Park as well. Something should be done.
I would still like to know how this little 2-year old victim is doing.
All that said, I don’t like the tone a lot of the commenters here are taking, of making cyclists into “The Other” instead of showing appropriate empathy for all people who use the path.
Everyone there is simply a person trying to enjoy some recreation or to get somewhere. It’s incumbent on everyone to exercise good judgment and caution here, not just the cyclists. Yes, being a cyclist here adds more danger to the mix, so one’s responsibility to be diligent is greater, but that doesn’t mean that non-wheeled users have no responsibility for safety at all.
Let’s not forget, either, that this logic should continue up the food chain — stories like this throw our false complacency about the way that motorists on our neighborhood streets injure and kill pedestrians and cyclists while rarely facing serious consequences into sharp focus.
Just rode my bike along Riverside Park this morning. Same problem of other bicyclists selfishly speeding too fast in shared areas with no concern for others. I stop for pedestrians but others don’t so I expect someday soon to see some poor pedestrian getting hit in front of me. Sad.
I ride my bike on the river path all the time, and in Cent Park, too, where a speeding biker killed a woman last year. I am continuously shocked, frightened and ashamed of the reckless disregard for pedestrian safety displayed by a great number of bikers. They go too fast. Period. It is inevitable that children and others are going to be injured. The best solution would be to separate the pedestrian and bike paths.
Bikes in New York have become such a major issue. I grew up on the UWS and lived right on Riverside Drive my entire life. When I was a girl, bikes were restricted in the park. Children could actually play in the park.
Then bikes were allowed in the park. People started racing really fast. Now, pedestrians cannot enjoy the river. As a kid, I used to play along the boardwalk on the river, now I cannot even stand to take a picture for a quick second. You have jerks on bikes blasting music. It’s wildly dangerous. I had my arm broken from a guy speeding down Riverside Drive just a few months ago. I think we need to ban bikes in the park again. Riverside Park is destroyed. They are way too dangerous.