Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
Central Park

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.

But the Wall Street Journal reported this week that a big hotspot in the bike crackdown isn't "the streets" at all, really, but rather Central Park. NYPD has handed out ten times the number of bike tickets in the park this year compared to all of 2010. And the policy doesn't seem to be singling out riders who are racing full tilt past pedestrians with the right of way. Cyclists whose only transgression is not sitting for the full red cycle at traffic lights in the park -- even when the crossing is clear and car-free hours are in effect -- are getting hit with $270 fines.

The ticket blitz has upended a longstanding social compact between cyclists, pedestrians, and cops in the park, which applied a common sense "yield to peds" rule during car-free hours. Now, with traffic-control devices designed for cars setting the enforcement agenda, riding in the park doesn't seem so relaxing or recreational.

Why the sudden change? Randy Cohen, author of the Ethicist column in the Times (and star of a few Streetfilms), reports on an enlightening conversation he recently had with a Central Park police officer:

I just returned from riding in the (blissfully warm, if swampy) park, where I had an amiable chat with a police officer who couldn't have been friendlier. When I asked about the current bikes and lights policy, he smiled ruefully -- with what I took to be professional embarrassment -- and said that the policy is to enforce the traffic laws. When I asked if the long established practice -- during car free hours, yield to pedestrians who have the light, but if there are none, roll one -- wasn't better, he agreed that, in his words "there's a difference between law and common sense." I asked when, if ever, things would return to how they'd been for the past thirty years, he smiled and said: "You'll have to ask the mayor next time you see him." Again, this officer was entirely reasonable and courteous. But there you have it, the further impression that the mayor created this situation and only he can change it.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

NYPD Admits Bike Crackdown Based on ‘Community’ Vibes, Not Data

It turns out, the new strategy arose not from data, but from people complaining about e-bikes at community meetings, the NYPD finally admits.

Pain Points: Victims of Road Violence Make Annual Pilgrimage to Demand Safe Streets

“This epidemic is preventable,” a grieving dad said on his first trip to Albany as part of Families for Safe Streets. “It doesn't have to be this way.”

May 14, 2025

Wednesday’s Headlines: Top of the Pops Edition

A new battery-swapping cabinet shows the way forward. Plus other news.

May 14, 2025

Police Chase Linked to Fatal Hit-and-Run in Bronx

Kelvin Mitchell a father of three, was killed by a speeding driver apparently trying to escape police.

May 14, 2025

AG James Sues Trump Over ‘Strong-Arm’ Tactic of Tying DOT Funds to Immigration Crackdown

The U.S. Department of Transportation is illegally threatening to withhold billions in transportation funding to states that don't "cooperate" with the administration's immigration crackdown, a new suit argues.

May 13, 2025
See all posts