Central Park
Streetsblog Basics
NYPD: Riding Faster Than 15 MPH in Central Park Now Illegal
NYPD's apparent bid to criminalize recreational cycling in Central Park took another surreal turn this morning. One week after hundreds of people asked police to stop the irrational barrage of red light tickets for cyclists in the park, NYPD has apparently doubled down on its bike enforcement blitz. Cycling message boards lit up today with stories from an early morning sweep that caught about half a dozen people training in the park, where cops dished out hefty fines (reportedly as high as $350) for going faster than 15 mph.
March 22, 2011
Hundreds Ask NYPD to Cease Irrational Bike Crackdown in Central Park
A crowd of 300 people, outraged at a police ticket blitz that threatens to effectively eliminate Central Park as a place of recreation for cyclists, ran into an unyielding blue wall at last night's meeting of the Central Park Precinct's community council. The precinct commander, Captain Philip Wishnia, offered no hope that his precinct's enforcement of red-light laws at each of the loop road's 47 traffic lights will abate, nor any assurances that his officers will exercise meaningful discretion.
March 15, 2011
When Will the Central Park Bike Blitz Be Over? “Ask the Mayor”
When NYPD announced that it was going to step up its bike enforcement at the beginning of the year, the best-case scenario went like this: Police would give out more tickets for risky, anti-social behavior like wrong-way biking, and the streets would seem a little more orderly as cycling continues its upward trajectory in NYC.
February 15, 2011
Central Park Drivers Get Bigger Holiday Gift Than Usual
In what's shaping up to be a yearly tradition, car-free hours in Central Park have been cut back for the holiday season. Each weekday this month, on the southeast corner of the park drive, the park's pedestrians, joggers, cyclists, and dog-walkers have three fewer hours of quiet and safety.
December 6, 2010
Eyes on the Street: Cabs Collide on Central Park’s West Drive
Streetsblog contributor Ken Coughlin snapped these shots of a rear-end collision between a yellow taxi and a livery cab in Central Park. The crash happened on West Drive at about 10 a.m. Wednesday.
May 20, 2010
JSK’s “98 Percent” Car-Free Central Park Claim Is 100 Percent Wrong
DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan appeared on WNYC's Brian Lehrer Show last Wednesday to talk about the agency's plans to, as Lehrer put it, "spread the Times Square model." When Lehrer invited listeners to call in with their ideas for other streets that should be made car-free zones, "Steve from Manhattan" asked why the Central Park loop wasn't being closed to traffic, calling it "obvious" and a "no-brainer." In her response, the commissioner said that Central Park's loop road already is closed to traffic "98 percent of the time."
March 9, 2010
The NYPD’s Holiday Gift to Motorists: Central Park
After introducing some yuletide sanity two winters ago, the city is back to sending a schizophrenic message to New Yorkers this holiday season: Please use mass transit, but if you choose to drive, we've made it easier by increasing the hours when cars are permitted on a section of Central Park's loop road. Only this time it's the NYPD, not the Department of Transportation, behind the double message.
December 11, 2009
End Central Park Road Rage: Keep Cars Out
The city's ongoing effort to have it both ways in Central Park resulted in another near-tragedy last week.
June 11, 2009