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The Central Park Drive Has Major Traffic Issues — and Here Come Legal E-Vehicles

April 20, 2023 | 1:34 PM
in NEWS, OUTDOORS
54
Photograph by Carol Tannenhauser.

By Bob Tannenhauser

In 2018, the de Blasio administration permanently closed Central Park to cars, stating that “[r]eturning the park’s loop road to walkers, joggers and cyclists will reduce air pollution in the park and improve safety.”

Problem solved? Not really. Even without cars, Central Park has major traffic issues, which could be exacerbated this summer when a new NYC Electric Micromobility Action Plan permits a pilot program allowing e-bikes and e-scooters in city parks (you can already see these electric devices in use, but the micromobility plan makes them officially okay).

E-bikes and other e-vehicles have “added a new and precarious dynamic to the [Central Park] Drive,” according to the nonprofit Central Park Conservancy, which has managed the park since 1998 under contract with the city.

Courtesy of Central Park Conservancy.

Frederick Law Olmsted could never have imagined the “different kinds of traffic” that would ensue, when he designed Central Park in the mid 1850s. The “drive” is a six-mile loop now shared by joggers, walkers, bicyclists, unicyclists, scooters, skaters, skateboarders, pedicabs, horse carriages, park maintenance vehicles, and more, and it is a main focus of a conservancy study aimed at improving safety and mobility. At a recent meeting of two Community Board 7 committees, Erica Sopha, the conservancy’s vice president for park use and stewardship, outlined issues under study:

  • Despite dedicated lanes for different uses, traffic on the six-mile loop can be congested and unsafe
  • Traffic signals are widely ignored by users
  • Bikers have trouble navigating from east to west in the park
  • Crossing the drive can be a challenge for seniors, children and the disabled
  • Emergency and authorized vehicles have difficulty navigating through the drive’s recreational users
  • There’s a lack of traffic enforcement due to cutbacks in park patrols
  • Commercially-related uses – pedicabs, horse carriages – have grown

The conservancy presented police department data on bike crashes in the park from 2018 – 2022 showing high numbers of crashes on the loop drive near the Delacorte Theater, East 72nd Street, and crossings near the ballfields and playgrounds on the northeast portion of the Park Drive. WSR examined the NYPD Bike Crash Data for Central Park for the same period and found that there were 96 crashes between bikes and pedestrians resulting in 61 pedestrian injuries, 29 cyclist injuries and one cyclist fatality. Another 100 crashes involved multiple bikes (resulting in 95 injuries), and there were 285 single bike crashes (resulting in 259 injuries).

In February, the conservancy announced a survey of park users, which will remain online until June (those who wish to comment can complete the survey or email the conservancy at feedback@centralparknyc.org). Conservancy officials said they will hold a meeting in June, with outreach efforts in the park, and plan to draft a report with recommendations for improvements by fall or winter.

On March 7th, Community Board 7 passed a resolution asking DOT to “act with urgency” to improve pedestrian safety at the West 63rd Street crossing in Central Park. They suggested the crosswalk be designated a school safety zone and the installation of appropriate traffic lights and signs, as well as traffic-calming devices such as speed bumps, raised crosswalks, barricades, bollards or stanchions to slow bicycles and other vehicles.

During a question period at the April 17 meeting, which was a joint session of the CB7 Transportation and Parks & Environment Committees, one commenter suggested having joggers and cyclists go in opposite directions on the loop, so they can always see each other. Contrary to the March resolution, a Transportation Committee member suggested removing the drive’s traffic lights because they create “unreasonable expectations for recreation cyclists” and “a false sense of security for anybody crossing the drive.”

The full meeting can be viewed below.

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54 Comments
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Asil
Asil
2 years ago

Walking around the city is a joke. I have never been so fearful in my life. Try at night, with the extra rats at your feet.

27
Reply
Bruce Reznick
Bruce Reznick
2 years ago

Central Park has become a dangerous unregulated mess. As a regular casual bike rider, I now avoid it. Tourists on bikes without helmets ride both ways, often taking their bikes on the reservoir path. Racers, e-bikes, and others ride with a sense of entitlement and abandon. Perhaps providing early morning hours for bike racers to train is good. But i’ve friends, all of whom, have been injured. It’s a shame because the park is spectacular. But without rules and ENFORCEMENT its overwhelmed and dangerous

56
Reply
D C
D C
2 years ago
Reply to  Bruce Reznick

I have seen cyclists in the Ramble, of all places.

9
Reply
Nicole
Nicole
2 years ago
Reply to  D C

I was almost run over by a motorcycle in the Ramble!

10
Reply
Patricia
Patricia
2 years ago
Reply to  Bruce Reznick

Truth. It’s a mess. Bikers/Scooters/Unicyclists are the worst, they say they are not, though they are. More E-bikes & E scooters. Ouch. Lance Armstrong wanna be’s are the top offenders, especially in the afternoon. I felt safer in Thailand where traffic / scooters is chaos, though people are more aware than in CP.

25
Reply
G T
G T
2 years ago
Reply to  Patricia

My favorite comment from the meeting was from a cyclist from Jersey who suggested closing the drive to all walkers and runners… cmon man…

15
Reply
geoff
geoff
2 years ago

if the goal is to reach 0 (zero) incidents, it seems unachievable. there are 42,000,000 visits to Central Park in a year.

3
Reply
m.pipik
m.pipik
2 years ago
Reply to  geoff

This wasn’t happening even a decade ago. Cyclists stayed on the roadway and went around counter-clockwise There were only animal powered vehicles.

Start by taking licenses away from the e-bike rental places and putting barriers on the entrances to the Ramble .

11
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JHB
JHB
2 years ago
Reply to  geoff

Zero incidents of any kind is always unachievable. Does that mean that potentially dangerous behaviour or equipment shouldn’t be regulated. You’ll never stop 100% of gun deaths so let everyone carry. You’ll never stop 100% of drunk drivers causing accidents so let’s allow everyone to drive drunk. Aside from occaisionally sanctioned races of different kinds (none with motor vehicles) the park was designed for leisure foot (and perhaps horse) traffic. The parks need to remain parks and motor vehicles (whether gasoline motors or battery run motors) should not be permitted.

16
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geoff
geoff
2 years ago
Reply to  JHB

What then IS a reasonable goal? using the figures in this article the were 444 (or so) injuries per 42,000,000 visits. That’s 0.0010%. That’s low.

I think of the USA gun problem similarly, but reversed, in a way. US citizens seem to comfortably accept an outcome other than zero everywhere in this country just as long as there are enough ‘hearts and prayers’ left to go around.

2
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Tego
Tego
2 years ago
Reply to  geoff

And we all get to go to heaven, or otherwise. Woopie!

0
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John
John
2 years ago

The absolute worst offenders, not even mentioned in the article, are the definitely NOT legal motor-scooters, mopeds, and even various classes of motorcycles, that lowlifes ride with abandon in the parks (and bike lanes, for that matter). Yes, the very fast e-scooters and e-bikes are a terrific nuisance and danger too (and they’re far more plentiful), but at this point, can’t someone/anyone at least capture and confiscate the actual mopeds (and their ilk)?!

37
Reply
Tego
Tego
2 years ago
Reply to  John

Policing and seizures.

2
Reply
D. Gary Winter
D. Gary Winter
2 years ago

What makes this “traffic” especially dangerous to pedestrians is the widespread refusal of bikers and scooters to obey traffic lights (as well as their frequently excessive speed). Seniors who want to stay alive often carry umbrellas or canes.

37
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Carmella Ombrella
Carmella Ombrella
2 years ago
Reply to  D. Gary Winter

I have been sorely tempted to shove my LL Bean trekking pole (oh, all right, it’s a cane) into the spokes of the next cyclist who blows through a red light while I’m waiting to cross. But I have refrained, not wanting to ruin a good cane. These creeps and their electrified compatriots make it nearly impossible for the elderly and disabled to cross the Park’s roadways, keeping us literally marginalized on its edges.

35
Reply
Adam
Adam
2 years ago

Wanna hear something radical? No motorized vehicles of any kind (except emergency and parks vehicles) of any kind in Central Park!

64
Reply
Upperwestslider
Upperwestslider
2 years ago
Reply to  Adam

100% agree. Can we also talk about the volume of conservancy vehicles using pedestrian sidewalks, especially in the morning when dogs are allowed off the leash? Some of these folks like to drive really fast!

2
Reply
Slow Down Dammit
Slow Down Dammit
2 years ago
Reply to  Adam

I agree, Adam. We need a place where people can walk and run freely without getting mown down by wheeled vehicles.
Simply trying to cross one of the drives with my dog and my elderly mother is often a treacherous experience.

8
Reply
Phoebe
Phoebe
2 years ago
Reply to  Slow Down Dammit

Yes, not even walking or jogging on the path, but CROSSING safely, is difficult and risky.

1
Reply
Michael
Michael
2 years ago
Reply to  Adam

I believe on the lower part of the bike path in Manhattan there are signs that state no e-bikes.

That does not deter e-bike of gas powered mopeds.

Enforcement is the only deterrent that goes for most social laws.

Curbing your dog
Smoking in the parks
Littering
Fare beating
Riding your bike on the sidewalk, running red lights.

No enforcement you will have a small percentage of people that will ruin it for the rest of the population. The above anti-social behavior becomes accepted or ignored. Others give up and stop using the amenities that are for all of us.

10
Reply
Jules
Jules
2 years ago
Reply to  Adam

..And why is that ‘radical’? Shouldn’t it be ‘normal’ !
Lets all calm down and act with civility… in formally fabulous NEW YORK!

4
Reply
Phoebe
Phoebe
2 years ago
Reply to  Jules

There are a lot of ”entitled“ people, and they aren’t all “privileged,” but they act that way. It’s a mess. It’s equal opportunity oppression, to be scared to cross the street. This used to be a great “pedestrian city.” Or am I just getting old? But some just like riding aggressively, and that’s ruining it for everyone.

2
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Martha
Martha
2 years ago

Riders of bikes and scooters, motorized or not, terrorize pedestrians all the time everywhere in the city, including the park. What regulations exist are not enforced. A wonderful sport and useful means of transportation has become a city nightmare.

Last edited 2 years ago by Martha
31
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Lizzie
Lizzie
2 years ago

It’s not what propels a vehicle. It’s how it’s driven. An e-bike is no less safe than a fully human-powered bike, if it’s ridden with care. Ask someone who’s been hit by a speeding racing bike if the lack of an electric motor prevented injuries. (Yes, I know fully electric bikes are heavier)

That said, what do they mean by “scooter”? One of those things like kids ride, with small wheels and a long steering column? Or something like a Vespa? The first is bad enough, but no more dangerous to pedestrians than a bicycle.

But the Vespa-like ones, like the Revel scooters, are a plague in our parks, and illegal, and are NEVER stopped by police, parks or otherwise.

15
Reply
Ral
Ral
2 years ago
Reply to  Lizzie

The motorized stand up scooters moving at 30mph – illegal and dangerous

2
Reply
10024er
10024er
2 years ago

As a pedestrian, it is UNSAFE to cross in Central Park. It seems that EVERY cyclist runs through the red lights. Feeling safe when I see the “Walk Signal”? Never.

30
Reply
Anon
Anon
2 years ago
Reply to  10024er

And even if a law abiding cyclist does stop at the light you still aren’t safe crossing because the other bikes spead.around the stopped one.

18
Reply
Ral
Ral
2 years ago
Reply to  Anon

Oh please – I just came back from a run – Saturday at 11am – equal opportunity bad behavior of tourists on bikes – e whatever’s, pedicabs and pedestrians – all in their own bubble breaking rules. Bottom line – too many people and moving vehicles – particularly on lower loop – oh and add to chaos – a sponsored walk taking up running lane forcing runners into bike lanes

2
Reply
Marco
Marco
2 years ago

So now not only will pedestrians be dodging and being hit by e-bikes, scooters, mopeds and regular bikes on the streets, but in the park as well. Prospect Park in Brooklyn has banned e-bikes!! Central Park must do the same. The lack of regulation of e-bikes and enforcement of the few regs which exist is coming to a head. It seems that a class action lawsuit against the city may be the only thing that will get any action! Another case of the majority being ruled by the minority. No pilot programs for more unregulated vehicular insanity in our Central Park!

27
Reply
Vera
Vera
2 years ago
Reply to  Marco

I haven’t seen many e-bikes in the park but regular cyclists not only don’t stop at red light they verbally harass people trying to cross! This has been a problem for years now, and if people aren’t willing to abide by the rules then the park has to be shut down for cyclists.

8
Reply
nate
nate
2 years ago

I guess life was, after all, easier and simpler when only cars and pedestrians were sharing our streets and parks… But bohemian progressives love to ruin everything.

9
Reply
Jerry
Jerry
2 years ago
Reply to  nate

I wish WSR moderators didn’t publish comments such as this. “Bohemian progressives love to ruin everything”? How about, Internet trolls love to ruin comment boards?

7
Reply
Maria
Maria
2 years ago
Reply to  nate

Please look up the annual traffic fatality numbers in NYC from the good old times and now. I didn’t know that not wanting to die was a progressive bohemian thing. A need to better allocate space for pedestrians and cyclists in the city does not mean we should bring cars back.

4
Reply
Zach m
Zach m
2 years ago

Legalizing the electric vehicles in the park is psychotic. About as good an idea as legalizing armed robbery

22
Reply
Marty
Marty
2 years ago

Unregulated e-contraptions are a menace already. And now they’re going to be sanctioned in Parks. I bet the first one I see has a Pale Rider on it because the apocalypse ain’t gonna be far behind. This is the first transit issue that I haven’t seen the clamoring for let’s follow Europe’s example. The French were smart and overwhelming, 89% I think, voted against letting them ruin Paris. The city lets this stuff happen and then takes no accountability for enforcement or regulation. I guess we should consider ourselves lucky that EMS still shows up to cart off the casualties.

15
Reply
Tom
Tom
2 years ago

The Park Police are a joke and waste of money. Virtually no enforcement of anything. The rule in Central and Riverside Parks is no rules!

15
Reply
Lisa
Lisa
2 years ago
Reply to  Tom

There are Park police?! I’ve never seen one.

1
Reply
watto
watto
2 years ago

An absolutely horrible idea! It seems as if my wonderful city, where I used to fearlessly walk has become a jungle of bikes and e-bikes and e-scooters. None of which give a damn about pedestrians. How many people have to be hit by these unidentified vehicles (no license plates or insurance) – some really badly hurt? How about a return to sanity in the city!

13
Reply
Maria
Maria
2 years ago
Reply to  watto

Last year cars killed 200 people, yet barely anyone even gets a ticket for killing with a car. So I think you’ll have to really up the body count on bike-caused deaths to see some change – oh wait, I forgot that we are so desensitized to the dangers of car traffic that some of us even think that the city was ever a good place to “fearlessly walk” anywhere.

7
Reply
lin
lin
2 years ago
Reply to  Maria

Maria,
Actually Manhattan was a pleasure to walk pre-2010 and the building of the bicycle infrastructure and more bicyclists who go through red lights, go the wrong way.

11
Reply
Beth
Beth
2 years ago
Reply to  lin

Lin, I regret to inform you that climate change is not a hoax, and every single person we can get out of a car and onto a bike is a step in the right direction. Do you have any idea the CO2 emissions of the speeding, idling cars in this city? Are you aware of the contribution of vehicles to global warming?

5
Reply
Lisa
Lisa
2 years ago
Reply to  Beth

Beth, it’s not like the bike riders would be driving cars. They’d be walking or taking the subway. Building bike infrastructure does NOTHING to reduce car usage. They are completely separate populations. Many bike riders live in Manhattan and are commuting to and from work. If they didn’t bike, they’d commute using the subway or a bus. Not a car.

6
Reply
Dana
Dana
2 years ago
Reply to  Beth

Ban all the planes then. The amount of fuel used by one jet is incomparable to hundreds of cars.

3
Reply
Chris C
Chris C
2 years ago

Why would E-bikers, or even bicyclists use the ‘drive’ when they have free reign on the sidewalks and footpaths to run pedestrians down with impunity.

15
Reply
AnDee
AnDee
2 years ago

The same way the DOT has created better cross walk systems on the UWS, they should do the same at the more popular crossways on the loop – basically extend the walking paths 10 feet onto the loop on each side, and create a narrower opening for all the loop traffic to pass through, and put in lights. That way even the fastest riders, whatever they’re on, will have to slow down to get through the opening when they have the green, and stop when the light is against them since they won’t have as much room to try to thread their way through without hitting anyone.

1
Reply
RCP
RCP
2 years ago

Vigilance and common sense would go a long way to mitigating accidents and injury. Like your mom (hopefully) told you when you were little, always pause at the curb and look both ways before crossing, regardless of stop signs or traffic lights. If there is oncoming traffic (of any kind), wait. Take nothing for granted.

3
Reply
Phoebe
Phoebe
2 years ago
Reply to  RCP

Wait until not one single speedily moving vehicle is coming toward me? That’s kind of like telling me to just turn around and forget about crossing at all.

2
Reply
Bernard Zalon
Bernard Zalon
2 years ago

E Bikes have added a precarious dynamic all over the city!

6
Reply
Deborah
Deborah
2 years ago

We certainly know the pandemic is over. The tourist are back in full force zipping down the walking paths on their rental bikes. Can’t tell you how many times they’ve almost run over my dog! We need more signs and rental companies need to be held accountable.

5
Reply
Lisa
Lisa
2 years ago
Reply to  Deborah

Plus many of the rental riders really don’t know how to ride a bike.

3
Reply
Pedestrian
Pedestrian
2 years ago

No one seems to consider pedestrians. I guess we are just important when they want our vote. Other times objections are treated as immoral exercise of “privilege”. I for one am sick of it. Lobbyists and ,companies who will now use the Park as a cut through will be served and we will be demeaned and ignored. Enough is enough. Pilot Programs soon become the way it is.

1
Reply
Sue Timms
Sue Timms
2 years ago

Scooters, e-vehicles, bikes, and rickshaws are all on the pedestrian paths in the park. There is zero zero zero enforcement.

1
Reply
Sue Timms
Sue Timms
2 years ago

And let’s talk about how the park service vehicles speed around the paths waaaay too fast. I have been honked at by one roaring up behind me. On the Bridle Path they speed along kicking up massive clouds of that graphite dust for everyone to inhale. Ban park vehicles from the Bridle Path and save everyone’s lungs.

1
Reply
Susan
Susan
2 years ago

As has been discussed in several CB7 meetings regarding the danger this explosion (pun intended) of UNREGULATED e-bikes and other electric vehicles are posing to pedestrian and senior safety on both our sidewalks and streets, the notion of thousands of e-vehicles in an already congested and increasingly dangerous Central Park is frankly unthinkable. Weren’t parks created after all as a small bit of peaceful natural environment and respite from a hectic, noise and traffic-filled city?

This is not happening in a vacuum. Lobbying groups like Transportation Alternatives and corporate delivery services which use the 65,000 e-biked deliveristas in NYC, as well as Lyft who own Citibike are literally taking over not only the argument, but our streets and parks. And apparently City Hall! Transportation Alternatives is working toward removing community boards from having a say in the matter at all! Trans Alt who is largely responsible for this new pilot program to bring thousands of rental e-bikes into Central Park as well as other parks is led by the owner of an investment banking firm and funded by Lyft and other owners of micro-mobility companies.

So the question is are we going to give sway to paid lobbyists and their activist members who wish to remove the safety, needs and expectations of the majority of tax-paying residents of our neighborhoods while they commoditize our streets in favor of rental and deliverista e-vehicles. Do they continue to expand their reach while many cities in Europe have found e-vehicles so dangerous as to ban them in theirs? We have gone way past bicyclists biking for recreation or environmental reasons. In fact, overloading our parks with e-bikes also exposes recreational bicyclists to injury as well. We are literally pushing many NYC residents off our streets back into their homes and now possibly out of our parks. It seems to me we no longer have a city great for walking.
Write your community board, Central Park Conservancy and the Mayor if as the comment section shows you are very concerned about this program.

2
Reply

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