The woman was surrounded by people protecting her.
A driver hit a woman on 72nd Street and Central Park West on Monday night around 6:30 p.m., and afterwards the victim was lying in the middle of the intersection, according to a witness who took the photo above.
The woman was bicycling when she was hit, wrote Deputy Inspector Timothy Malin at the 20th precinct in an email. We are awaiting more detail on what transpired before the crash.
The victim was lying in the middle of the street for about 5 minutes as she waited for an ambulance, according to the witness. The witness tells us he saw her move one of her legs, but was otherwise unsure of the woman’s condition. People around her directed traffic as they waited for the ambulance.
A police spokesman did not have more information about the crash — generally police only have information when the Collision Investigation Squad is called in the event that the person is considered likely to die.
Malin wrote that the victim refused medical attention and the driver was not charged.
As of the end of September, there had not been any other cyclists injured at this intersection this year, though there were three injured at the intersection last year, according to police stats.
This article has been updated with additional information from police, including the fact that she was cycling and refused medical attention.
“A police spokesman did not have information about the crash — generally police only have information when the Collision Investigation Squad is called in the event that the person is considered likely to die.’
Does this mean that if a pedestrian or cyclist is hit but only injured in a non-life threatening way the police don’t care?
There is always an “official” report and it is recorded in the stats. CIS is usually only called when there is the possibility of death and/or serious injury. They take a million snaps and measurements. In this case it appears she was uninjured as see didn’t what to see doc. Odds are it was just a simple case of an accident, that the 20 will look into as needed.
What about when cylists hit pedestrians?
Police won’t even respond. Definitely don’t want to keep those stats.
August 8, 2019, Streetblog:
“Since January of 2014, five pedestrians have been killed by cyclists in New York City, while more than 700 pedestrians have been killed by drivers of cars and trucks.”
And how many cyclists have been killed by pedestrians? None, I vouchsafe!
Thank you. It wouldn’t be WSR if someone wasn’t complaining about cyclists.
LOL!!
Brenda, is that really how you interpret that statement?
How else can it be interpreted?
Seriously? That police like you and me care — they care so much they take a job requiring them to run toward danger in order to protect their fellow New Yorkers when most are fleeing out of self preservation in the opposite direction — but that police simply don’t keep stats on everything under the sun.They have to be notified of crashes and even then don’t index everything. Or if they do they don’t have statements for public consumption about every stat. How you must despise policemen to conclude that the only possible interpretation paints police as inhuman. And how illiberal to tar a vast group, because of their job, as inhuman.
If they don’t keep stats on the number of pedestrians hit by cars how does anyone measure of Vision Zero or bike lanes or islands making pedestrian crossings shorter are helping, neutral, or hurting?
Don’t want to keep those stats!
Every single interesection needs a red ligh camera and meaningful fines for violations. In 2019 there is no excuse not to do this
How do you know a red light was run by the car?
and how do you know the commenter assumed a red light was run by the car? the comment itself did not suggest either way. and regardless, a functional red light camera would’ve been able to clarify some aspects of the crash.
This article’s photo clearly shows a red light camera (beige box on a pole with two round apertures in it) in the upper left corner of the picture. Hopefully it has some useful information, but we’ll never know as these records aren’t public.
Here’s another thought: why aren’t cars required to have cameras of their own? Many people drive with dash cams these days, myself included, but these aren’t mandatory, and footage can be easily tampered with by anyone possessing the bare minimum of computer skills. Recently federal law has mandated that all new cars come with rear-facing cameras. Mandatory dash cams w/secure storage can’t be that much of a stretch.
And require the same of cyclists, in addition to licensing, helmets and insurance.
Yes and furthermore, I believe that a lot of visibility problems that interfere with bicyclist safety is that very few of these people have the required mandated lights -front and back- and would require in addition that they all wear some sort of reflective item-vest or cross strip. Especially when they insist on riding in the dark and sometimes rain. I am a pedestrian and a driver. No way would you find me riding a bike in this city. However whenever I have encountered a properly equipped rider, I have appreciated the help. We require car drivers to turn on their lights. Why not bicyclists? It is absurd to believe that some users of the streets must conform to laws and rules and then let other users flagrantly disregard the norm and then expect there not to be problems. By the way, today, I was forced to give way on a SIDEWALK to two bicyclists-one on a city bike on Broadway and the other on a personal bike on 113th street. So then one wonders why there is such animus against this re-discovered form of transport?
where are all the UWS nimbys on this one who cling onto their cars and free parking spots, and regularly rage against bike lanes and cyclists?
Not a relevant comment, Sir Garage Owners of the World Unite but, since you asked, my only near misses have been from cyclists. Wrong way cyclists in and out of bike lanes on one way avenues and side streets. Light running cyclists in bike lanes. I’ve walked and played on the streets of our town for over 70 years. Doesn’t prove anything but it’s data.
I agree with you comments. I have been living in the UWS for 60 years and had never seen the outrageous behavior of bikers. They don’t follow any rules and think they have the right of way always. They should be fined same as automobile drivers and hold licenses to drive bikes in the city. Pedestrians have no rights in this city.
Whoops, I think you meant pedestrians have all the rights. As it should be. Then it should be cyclists.
Well, at least we know where one of the reckless cycling apologists is.
“where are all the UWS nimbys on this one who cling onto their cars and free parking spots, and regularly rage against bike lanes and cyclists?”
We’re right here! Now tell me, how is your comment relevant to this incident?
The article says they don’t know if the woman was walking or hiking or what happened. What kind of outrage do you want to see? We don’t know what opened or who was at fault.
As part of the the CPW bike lane, the DOT plan includes a reconfiguration of CPW to make it safer for pedestrians. Where is it? What is the loss of 450 patking spaces buying us?
‘What is the loss of 450 patking spaces buying us?’
bike lanes, see the first part of your comment.
That’s included with the bike infrastructure. Daylighting intersections and ped islands for shorter crossing distances.
What does that have to do with this accident?
Funny how everyone has already convicted and determined that the driver is guilty. Love my UWS neighbors!
I just want to know what the homeless guy in photo has to do with this
Why does it matter if the person is homeless or not? Clearly, whoever they are, they’re attempting to protect the woman lying in the street.
She is on the south bound side of the street and the car is heading southbound. So she was not in bike the lane So would have to assume it was her fault.
There is a southbound bike lane on CPW. Furthermore, cyclists are allowed to ride alongside cars even when there is no bike lane.
If there’s a southbound bike lane on CPW, I must need to get my eyes checked because I ride my bike southbound on CPW from 110th down to 63rd every day and I’ve NEVER seen it. And I do that instead of biking through the park because people walking their dogs on the Drive are too busy playing with their phones to pay attention to where exactly they are walking, much less where their dog on the long-ass leash is walking. And While I can live with the guilt of hitting an idiot pedestrian, an innocent dog is another story.
Isn’t there a southbound bike lane on Columbus Avenue? This is the problem with cyclists – the city gives them a bike lane, yet they refuse to use it because it’s inconvenient by being one avenue away from their destination. The city needs to monitor the bike lanes, and remove them if they are not being used by selfish cyclists who want to ban all cars from the city.
Sid that is true but a smart person would not ride in traffic in NYC to begin with
Also, the “southbound” lane in Central park is not a viable option for most purposes. First, you have to ride “in traffic” to get to it and once you exit it. Second, there are only limited opportunities to enter and exit it legally, every 5 to 10 blocks.
He said CPW, not Central Park.
What? You really don’t need to assume it was her fault. We have no idea if the driver was speeding, drunk, ran a red light, texting, or what. All we know is that a car hit and injured one of our neighbors.
Who is at fault is supposed to be kind of beside the point under Vision Zero. People, whether they are drivers or pedestrians, will never be perfect. The city’s job is to design streets so that when people make mistakes, they aren’t killed or seriously injured.
This is the second serious incident at this intersection this year. When will it be permanently redesigned to eliminate the conditions that make this tragedy possible?
Huh? There is no southbound bike lane. You are forced to ride in the street if going southbound. But who knows what happened and who is at fault. Can’t tell from the photo.
The big old green park 50 feet from there has a south bound lane you can do 30 miles an hour in.
No, you can’t ride 30mph in the park – unless you want to risk getting a very expensive ticket. The speed limit is 25mph and NYPD does run radar on cyclists at and around the busy pedestrian crossings and they, rightfully, take a ZERO TOLERANCE stance on anyone going even one mile per hour over 25.
“The big old green park 50 feet from there has a south bound lane you can do 30 miles an hour in.”
Not legally.
It was 6:30 at night. Dark. Most WSR readers would recommend not going into the park at night – even on a bike unless they want to get blamed when something bad happens to them.
I’m a man in good physical shape and I don’t go into Central Park at night and wouldn’t encourage anybody else to do it.
Now if you said they should have been riding southbound on the excellent protected Columbus Ave bike lane you would have my full support.
Victim: lying in the middle of the street for 5 mins waiting for an ambulance
also Victim: refuses medical attention.
Not victim blaming, just find it odd.
Not odd. It’s entirely possible she had no medical insurance. Unless I was at death’s door I would probably refuse medical treatment for the same reason. Even spending a day in the hospital for observation could result in a five figure bill.
She may have wanted to get out of there in order to not pay for the damage to the car. Bikers do not have insurance could have been a 5 figure bill. Bike riders need insurance!
First off, if the car had 5 figures of damage the cyclist would most likely be dead. Second, that much damage would mean the motorist was partially or fully to blame since you can only get that much damage hitting a cyclist if you’re going at highway speeds which are illegal on NYC streets. Third, there’s no evidence the cyclist is even at fault, nor do cyclists or pedestrians have to pay for damage to cars which hit them. Fourth, requiring cyclists to have insurance will bring the numbers riding bikes down to zero, or very close to it. NYC is trying to encourage cycling, not discourage it.
Of course, people like you love any excuse to get their digs on cyclists, no matter the circumstances.
In your line of reasoning, a cyclist will never be wrong and never be at fault if they hit a pedestrian. Since they are not required to have insurance, they can just ride away.
Any CCTV footage to look back at would be helpful
Take the bike path off CPW – with the busses it is a hazard
Bicycles belong in Central Park not in our streets that are meant for cars
I thought everyone wanted vehicles removed from Central Park. So if you keep screaming that bicycles should adhere to vehicular laws, then all other vehicles need to share the streets with bicycles.
And bikes.
Most people wait intensely for negativity, that is why negative publicity sells. It sells because many people wait to eat that negativity. It’s their daily sustenance. Each person has so much frustration in their lives because life has exploited and cheated them. That is why they wait to cheat and exploit others.
It’s all choice…. choose heaven or hell.
Well said!
I thought at least one person should wish the victim well. I hope she was not seriously injured and can make a quick recovery. Thank you, NYPD and first responders.
Vicitim? The cyclist could very well have beeen at fault, in which case they DRIVER is the victim. Why does everyone assume the cyclist is the alleged so-called quote-unquote scare-quotes “victim”?
Well said.
Let’s not forget the bicycles on cpw
And 63 riding in both directions and
Never stopping for a red lite.
Pedestrian crossing has become a danger.
I have never seen a bike stopped,
Or ticketed.
It has become an obstacle course,
And the law does nothing.
Let’s not forget the bike situation
In the park.
Red lights have become meaningless
Props.
I ride a bike and seem to be the only idiot
Who stops for lights.