By Gus Saltonstall
A man is in critical condition after a bike collided with an electric unicycle in Central Park earlier this week, police said.
Around 4:30 p.m. on Monday, a 40-year-old man was riding his electric unicycle along West Drive in Central Park near 60th Street, when he was struck by a person on a bike, NYPD said. Electric unicycles are not legal on New York City streets, including in parks.
The unicycle rider suffered serious injuries throughout his body, and was rushed to Weill Cornell Medical Center in critical, but stable condition, according to police.
The person on the bike fled and police are now looking for them in connection to leaving the scene of a collision, NYPD said.
Police released this image of the person wanted in connection to the incident.
Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).
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Terrible. Groups like E-Vehicle Safety Alliance are trying to get legislation that aims to reduce the number of such accidents.
BTW why the care not to use words like “woman” or “her” in the OP? The photo depicts someone who most people will say is a woman. How far are we supposed to police our nouns and pronouns now?
It would have been easy enough to say the person on the bicycle appear to be a woman. And that would be accurate. As it APPEARS to be a female. What is the harm?
You realize you are the one literally policing their pronoun usage. Get a grip. Why does this bother some people?
Why? Because we were raised speaking English, and this isn’t English.
Languages change over time. Get used to it.
No
#disablecommentsection
No
Hi neighbor785, thank you for reading! With crime reports, which this is, we use the language provided to us by the NYPD. Police did not specify the suspect’s gender, and thus we avoid making the assumption one way or another.
there is no legislation banning these one wheeled ebikes, commonly called EUCs.
Perfect, and appropriate, answer. Thank you!
Thank you for the explanation, Gus.
1. Agree that the article should use the word “woman”. Most “gender neutral” communications don’t reach 50% of the target audience because we (women) tend to shrug over them and ignore the actual message.
2. EVSA’s proposals would do nothing to prevent this sort of accidents. The woman responsible for the accident was not on an e-bike.
Beata, the above article does make it sound like the bike rider was responsible but she had posted in Reddit about being hit fron behind by the e-Unicycle. There she was told the police were looking fir her and she contacted them. I withold judgement until we know more.
FWIW eUnicycles are always illegal in NYC
Wrong. EVSAs proposals preceded the criminal summonses thatn are now in place because evehicles are out of control and rude, rogue nasty reckless. Get a grip TA Bro. ALL EVEHICLES OUT OF THE PARK!
the evsa are disingenuous. they do not deserve support.
Oh! I guess working for safety for the pedestrians in our communities who have suffered multiple life altering injuries from out of control e-bike riders for which no one is held accountable is disingenuous! Not to mention unicycles so far as I know are illegal. E-bikes should NOT be in Central Park where a few weeks ago an e-bike rider was killed while riding on the loop. Regulations would benefit everyone.
NYC-EVSA is a grass roots organization that takes no money from anyone-
So for all the victims of the lack of e-bike regulations or licensing, NYC-EVSA welcomes support from everyone hoping to regain the safety and quality of life on our streets and sidewalks in New York by passing Priscilla’s Law to license e-bikes. http://www.nycevsa.org
disingenuous drivel.
NYC-EVSA is another echo chamber. They don’t speak for the “community”.
I am a pedestrian. I have 2 young kids. I spent most of my weekends in Central Park. When it comes to street safety, I am much more concerned about vehicles (especially SUVs and vans) than I am about bikes or e-bikes.
10000%
i have two girls 14 and 12 and am terrified of them being killed crossing the street by a wreckless driver. ebikes are not killing kids.
Yet.
Hello Beata, and UWS Dad too: why pose an either-or choice between safety from cars and safety from E-vehicles? We need safety from both. The participants in EVSA strive for the latter, but that doesn’t entail that they think cars pose no dangers. There are more laws that regulate cars and drivers than laws that regulate E-vehicles. That’s why EVSA focuses on E-vehicle legislation.
Second this. My kids are much more at risk by reckless drivers, I’ve never had a scare with an EBike but have had several with drivers. EVSA has nothing to say about this.
Every council member, and community board will tell you that that unregulated e-bikes are the number one issue they hear of from their constituents. The NYPD Commissioner created policy to hold e-bikers as well as other bikers accountable for violating the traffic laws by issuing c-summonses which are a criminal offense. She did that a few months ago because the problem of reckless e-bikes became untenable. The Mayor lowered the speed limit for e-bikes to 15mph a week or two ago. He has said e-bikes and scooters are an out of control menace and supports Priscilla’s Law.
NYC-EVSA has over 1200 members and is growing. EVSA has met with emergency room doctors, lawmakers, cyclists, e-bike riders, and officers from NYPD precincts citywide. I think not only is EVSA not an echo chamber but there are lots of folks on this topic who are living in silos.
so the loudest mouths got the attention of the idiots in charge. sounds about right.
Absolutely 💯 I
Um how? The e-vehicle didn’t cause the accident here.
Please. Very sorry for the uni rider; even so, its a broader conversation. And. was the unicycle riding safely and at what speed? Its illegal to begin with and a
dangerous vehicle to be riding any place in a public sphere.
The use of “them” in the story is nothing short of provocative.
It is accepted in most media style guides, as are many words that did not exist in my youth. Are you personally injured by linguistic evolution?
Nor “accepted”. Forced down out throats.
It’s not really accepted as evidenced by comments to this article.
Even when people don’t speak up, many of us simply roll our eyes at “gender neutral” communications.
Languages’ pronoun systems—unlike their noun, verb, and adjective inventories—are extremely resistant to change. In English for example, singular gendered pronouns will, in all likelihood, remain in place for individuals: “he/him/his” and “she/her/hers” (“it/it/its” for neuter); plural pronouns (“they/them/their”) will also almost certainly be reserved for referring to more than one person. Although some individuals want others to refer to them with “they/them/their”, these individuals have not replaced “I/me/my” with “we/us/our” when referring to themselves—an obvious first step—and so, their expecting others to change their usage without their first changing their own is suggestive of the stubbornness of linguistic inertia. But most fundamentally, this probably won’t happen regardless, because a gender designation marked by a number designation is quite likely unprecedented by nature, and is certainly unprecedented by diktat. No one dictates how language changes; language change is passive and unguided.
Very, very well said. Thank you!
Thou art wrong, we think
And we use the royal we for clarity
Provocative if you’re somehow wounded by pronouns
Remember the E Vehicle is the victim here, not the perpetrator.
Electric unicycles (EUCs) can reach speeds ranging from 10 mph for beginners to over 50 mph for experienced riders on high-end models. Some advanced models even exceed 100 mph
No, no electric unicycles have ever reached 100 mph in new york city. The vehicles aren’t capable of those speeds. If you’ve seen so, you may have been reading a speedometer calibrated to kilometers per hour.
Don’t be ridiculous, there are no EUC reaching 100 mph. I know – i’m riding one.
Actually, yes, there are. A 15-second Google search found me this: https://freshlycharged.com/begode-et-max-review/
No-load speed. Meaning lift and tilt the wheel and measure spin. Won’t be that with wheel weight+rider weight+wind resistance+safety margin.
Apparently there is a 15mph speed limit now on e bikes . I bicycle the whole city and have never seen a sign or any enforcement whatsoever
That’s an “All City” brand bike, likely a “Super Professional” with aftermarket pink grips.
That was a photo of a woman. Why can’t a woman be called a woman? Is “woman” an offensive word now? We asked to be called women and not “girls” as adults but now we have been re-branded as something neuter? Please stop this nonsense, ….please.
The woke pronoun police won’t be happy with this
You’re describing the “woke” as “pronoun police”, but it’s the very clearly “unwoke” UWSider who’s complaining about pronouns. Can you explain?
Good.
Literally who cares…. bunch of hyper sensitive snowflakes
The thing is… the vast majority of women do care (even when we decide not to express our views). Proponents of “gender neutral” communication operate in an echo chamber and they are genuinely surprised when the general public does not seem to relate to their messages.
speak only for yourself.
This is why I used the words “the vast majority” rather than “all women”. There are always a few odd exceptions.
I remember how my friends and I ridiculed “pregnant people” language when we were indeed pregnant. The attitude to “gender neutral” communication has not got any better since then – if anything, people got much less unwilling to put up with it.
You meant to write “speak only for yoursel*VES*”, I’m sure.
Electric (Tron) unicycles are incredibly dangerous to even experienced users/riders. With a top speed of 56 mph for the powerful models, when things go bad they go really bad.
Get a grip. No one in NYC on a unicycle is going 56 mph.
As an aside, two things.
1. The drive in the 60″s is EXTREMELY hazardous for everyone. Many rental bikes enter there, and the road narrows.
2. Electric unicycles are ILLEGAL on NYC streets and bike lanes:
From NY.Gov… are unicycles legal in bike lanes:
No, electric unicycles are not permitted in New York City bike lanes or on city streets. They are currently illegal to operate in NYC, along with other devices like electric skateboards, Segways, and hoverboards.
E-bikes and e-scooters are legal:
Electric bikes (e-bikes) and electric scooters (e-scooters) are legal to operate in NYC bike lanes and on streets with speed limits of 30 mph or less, according to the NYC DOT.
EUCs are not legal:
Electric unicycles (EUCs) do not fall under the same category as e-bikes and e-scooters, and are specifically listed as illegal to operate on city streets.
Why don’t the police enforce this law? I see lunatics on unicycles and skateboards all the time.
THIS COMMENT FOR THE WIN.
Possibility in the pic, but a trans woman is still a woman. If she’s apprehended, see if she prefers “they.” I suppose I should have more sympathy for the e-unicyclist. Awaiting updates on this story….
I have heard there are issues with data collection that lead to data reporting concerns. So numbers have in the past appeared skewed. Do the forms provide for a “they” or “other “column for gender so that the stat is included?
Unless there were multiple bicycle/unicycles collisions in the park this week, there is a post on Reddit that seems to be written by the cyclist: https://www.reddit.com/r/NYCbike/comments/1lolk42/cautionary_central_park_post/
It’s unclear to me who, if anyone, is at fault here. But I will note that those unicycles are illegal and also very fast. I see them periodically in the park when I run in the morning. They will easily overtake the fastest cyclists. Riding one of those in the park in the late afternoon without a helmet is an unfortunate sequence of bad decisions.
The details in that reddit post are at significant variance with the story reported here.
It very much seems like these were separate crashes.
Oh, per additional comments in the Reddit thread, yes, exactly the same crash.
I guess the woman on the bike felt like she had been crashed-into — hadn’t perpetrated the crash — and didn’t hang around to give her side of the story. Interesting.
Until there are HONEST STATISTICS….Transportation Alternatives ‘which claims to be the sole arbiter of ‘safety’ are self-serving and/or skewed leading to loosey-goosey laws or none at all -few of which are actually enforced.
The 3% of commuting bikers and their well funded Lobbying org have seized the narrative at the wider public’s expense and in yet another case, this poor soul.
Equally, VC investor APPS invade our streets & sidewalks with delivery gig workers terrorizing elderly walkers: an e-bike slamming an 80 year old will finish her up for the rest of her life-even at 15 MPH.
UNLESS THERE IS DEATH -THERE’S NO REQUIREMENT FOR HOSPITALS TO CITE BIKE ON PEDESTRIAN “CRASHES” TO THE DOT/NYPD et al
Until the NYPD is ORDERED to document ALL BIKE-ON-PEDESTRIAN harms which are now being -for the most part-DISMISSED…the one-sided indignation manufactured by the very folks who PROTEST ACCOUNTABILITY FOR LAWBREAKING SELF-ENTITLED CITIBIKERS & E-BIKES IN PARTICULAR defy their my-way-or-the- highway (no pun intended) appropriation of what is “safe”
IF IT HAS A MOTOR IT MUST HAVE A VISIBLE ID
IF A LAW GETS BROKEN IT MUST WARRANT A PENALTY
IF PEDESTRIANS ARE TERRORIZED -IT IS NOT CALLED “SAFE”
IF PRISCILLA’S LAW IS PASSED-THERE WILL BE LONG OVERDUE ACCOUNTABILITY
Don’t believe me…WATCH:
https://youtu.be/h7SL6aDwL3I
JOIN the E-VEHICLE SAFETY ALLIANCE https://www.nycevsa.org/
the evsa is an oxymoron. they do not promote safety, but their own agenda.
Re E-Vehicle Safety Alliance and the regulations on E-vehicles for which they are lobbying:
I could have been more precise about the work done by “such” when I wrote that EVSA is seeking to help reduce the number of “such accidents.” It’s obvious that the person suspected of causing this particular accident is the bicyclist. But as others have pointed out, the OP says that electric unicycles are not legal in NYC– not on streets, not in parks.
For more on EVSA and “Priscilla’s Law” see the comment of Susan S. below.
stop spamming the board with your evsa nonsense
Not spam and not nonsense. Wait until you get run over on a sidewalk or park path or intersection.
The woman riding the bike went to the police earlier today. She said she was riding her bike and turning towards Columbus Circle when the electric unicycle tried to pass at high speed on her right and slammed into her rear wheel.
Those e-unicycles are illegal to operate in NYC and extremely dangerous with speeds over 50 mph. That is why the riders (not in this case) generally wear “Imperial Stormtrooper” armor.
Then why did she flee?
Honestly, until reading about this collision I’m not sure it woukd have occurred to me that I needed to stick around a bike accident after the ambulance arrived to help the badly injured person. If others thought she was “fleeing” they could have easily stopped her. Therr have been many reports over the last few years of people calling 911 when ab eBike hits someone and an ambulance arriving but never police. Why was it different this time?
Get E-vehicles out of the park, out of 34th ave and out of the city
no
I kind of like the speedy deliveries of my food. I also like riding the citi ebikes.
Who crashed into whom? Unicycles are illegal in the park. Electric Unicycles travel much faster than regular bikes.
And have no stopping mechanism.
The person in the picture may have posted a note in Reddit about the incident. I need to find a way to get the link to the 22nd precint according to the TIPS line. The article is at https://www.reddit.com/r/NYCbike/comments/1lolk42/cautionary_central_park_post/?share_id=0LyByvQgDnZRBATd3xmMq&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf&utm_source=share&utm_term=4.
The users name is PerspectiveSea9511.
The headline needs to specify it was an e-unicycle.
Also the bike may have been the instrument of collision, but it’s the rider who effected the colliding.
Interesting to learn that e-unicycles are illegal in NYC. I see them quite frequently on streets and sidewalks. The NYPD sure is doing a “good” job attending to pedestrian safety. At least, the driver of an e-unicycle has to be skilled and paying attention, so unlike the average Lyftbike renter.
How awfully, terribly sad for this man and his family. The pain he’s got to be suffering has to be unbearable, at least until he’s stabilized. And the months and months of rehab in front of him after the pieces of his body are reconstructed and put back together, what a sad consequence of a moment of distraction on the part of the bicyclist. Lessons to learn? Probably just exercise vigilance all the time.
Other lessons.
Don’t ride eUnicycles is thie city — they are illegal. Always wear a helmt when in anybkind of a bike.
Ensuring the safety of pedestrians in our communities is crucial. Many residents have suffered life-altering injuries or died due to reckless e-bike riders. These e-bike riders currently face little to no consequences or accountability. E-bikes should not be allowed in Central Park. Recently, an e-bike rider tragically lost their life while riding on the loop. Implementing regulations would benefit everyone.
NYC-EVSA is a grassroots organization that does not accept funding from outside sources. We invite support from all those concerned about the lack of e-bike regulations and the safety of our streets and sidewalks in New York. Our goal is to pass Priscilla’s Law, which aims to license e-bikes and improve safety and quality of life for everyone. This is common-sense legislation that will protect pedestrians and cyclists. http://www.nycevsa.org
We need traffic cops who enforce speed controls. We need to lower e-wheel allowed speed. We need to ban e-wheels in parks.
10 real things NYC needs way more urgently than banning or restricting e-wheels in parks:
Affordable Housing — Tens of thousands are homeless or can’t pay rent.
Subway & Bus Upgrades — The MTA is underfunded, unreliable, and overcrowded.
Street Safety for Pedestrians — Dangerous intersections and speeding cars kill far more people than e-wheels ever will.
Bike Lane Expansion — Safe, protected lanes to prevent car-bike conflicts.
Illegal Parking Enforcement — Delivery trucks and cars block lanes all day.
Mental Health & Addiction Services — Many struggling people get zero support.
Clean Streets & Trash Control — Rats, trash bags on sidewalks, poor sanitation.
Public School Funding — Kids need better schools and after-school programs.
Road Maintenance — Potholes destroy cars, bikes, and e-wheels alike.
Corruption & Mismanagement Crackdowns — Billions wasted on nonsense instead of fixing real problems.
So yeah — we’ve got a million bigger priorities to handle before cracking down on e-wheels in parks.
Anything on wheels in Central Park should be banned. And anyone riding a motorized bike in this city should be required to have a license. Why can’t these rues be implemented? I feel like I take my life in my hands when I go outside.
Two wrongs don’t make right!
Two people riding recklessly, one illegally, hit each other in a park that’s suppose to be safe for all.
The person who got hit was actually on an electric unicycle . What difference does it make who was on the e vehicle? Who knows whose fault this was. Last week an e-bike rider died because he hit a pedestrian in Central Park.
EVSA promotes safety for ALL!
Isn’t that what we want? A safer park and safer streets for ALL?
E-bikes should not be in the park going at high speeds, terrorizing everyone else!
This
Update here, the woman described in the article waited at least 45 and until the ambulance arrived. She was in fact later arrested under suspicion of leaving the scene of a crash, charges have since been dropped.
https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2025/07/03/manhattan-da-says-alleged-central-park-hit-and-run-cyclist-didnt-flee-drops-charges
If it’s a matter in which police needed to be involved, why the heck did it take them more than 45 minutes to show up??? And then they have the gall to charge/issue arrest warrant for the biker, when the police couldn’t be bothered to show up themselves. Ridiculous.
yes, it would be good to update the article. Now the interesting news is that the NYPD circulated her photo and an arrest warrant when in fact she had stayed at the scene
!!! What’s truly dangerous isn’t the unicycle, the bike, or even the car. It’s reckless, angry, or unstable people using them irresponsibly. Blaming the mode of transportation misses the real issue: human behavior. There are people riding unicycles, bikes, and driving cars every day without hurting anyone. It’s when someone acts with rage, disregard, or cowardice — like fleeing the scene — that danger really shows up. The focus should be on holding individuals accountable like this Carolyn Backus, not demonizing the tools.
The woman in this crash turned herself in to the police. It seems she was unaware that she was being sought. If you read her Reddit post, from her perspective, she thinks she was hit. From all the other reporting, it sounds like she – on her bike – ran into the guy – on the electric unicycle. I hope another witness comes forth who can rightly say which version is accurate.