It's a "sign" of the times!
A mobile speed sign installed by NYPD in Central Park in hopes of educating cyclists if they are exceeding a 15-mile-per-hour speed limit that goes into effect next week is delivering readings that are as accurate as a rectal thermometer in a penguin.
The bonkers electronic board, which was located near the entrance at 61st and Broadway, gave these readings on Thursday as Streetsblog watched:
- Joggers slowing down for their cool-down lap? The sign said they were going 14 miles per hour.
- A group of pedicabs parked and not moving? The sign says, "9 mph."
- A wide-open street with two pedestrians slowly ambling? "19 mph."
- Two horse-drawn carriages in a slow roll? "14 mph."
- Two tourists with backpacks on two run-of-the-mill non-electric bikes? "25 mph."
- A speedster in Spandex with flashy racing bike? "8 mph."
- A deliverista on an e-bike? "0 mph."
The sign was installed this week in advance of the Oct. 24 15-mile-per-hour bike speed limit cap.
Joshua Wright, a walker who formerly trained for marathons in Central Park before moving to New Jersey last year, didn't think the signs would do much of anything.
"The speed doesn't worry me," he said, adding that he's more frightened by "people ignoring the crosswalks."
The Police Department, which confirmed the signs were placed in multiple areas around town "for educational purposes" on the eve of the new speed limit, said, for lack of a better cliché, "Nothin' to see here."
"The sign is not malfunctioning," said an agency spokesperson, who declined to provide a name. "The sign will read the highest speed in the area regardless of volume or traffic."
The NYPD and city transportation officials are constantly dealing with complaints about the competing flows of pedestrians, carriages, pedicabs, bike commuters, deliveristas and racing cyclists that use the Central Park loops.
But the new speed sign may complicate their efforts. Displaying speeds that understate how fast racing cyclists and e-bikers are going undercuts the very purpose of the signboard.
The context
In response to complaints about speeding in Central Park by the Spandex-clad and electric mobility users, the Department of Transportation repainted the striping on the loop earlier this year to, at least on pavement, create more space for walking, running and cycling.
DOT and the Central Park Conservancy also rolled out a pilot program that swapped some of the traditional red lights and "Walk" signs in the park for flashing yellows, in an attempt to tell both bikers and walkers to look each way.
The intersection with the buggy speed billboard still had the traditional red-light/green-light setup, which was ignored by virtually everyone, whether on foot, scooter or bike.
A second intersection inspected by Streetsblog on Thursday — near the Wollman Rink — had the new flashing-yellow treatment and a working speed billboard. And the combination did seem to have traffic flowing more orderly and more slowly through it.
The redesign and flashing light programs have not stopped the avalanche of complaints.
Anti-cycling activists are pushing for a citywide ban on using electric vehicles of any kind in parks. That legislative push is being led by Council Member Vickie Paladino (R-Whitestone), a longtime foe of bike lanes, even those that do not take space away from car drivers or pedestrians.
Opponents of bikes in the park have also opposed efforts to improve cycling routes outside the park, which could reduce many cyclists' use of Central Park for safe passage uptown or crosstown.
