Cyclist Killed In Crash With A Dog In Central Park

A senior on a bicycle died after colliding with an off-leash dog in Central Park on Monday morning — in the same area where a cyclist fatally wounded a pedestrian in September, police said.

According to a preliminary report from the NYPD, the 71-year-old bicyclist was riding on the East Drive near 84th Street at around 8:20 a.m. when he “collided with a dog that ran onto the roadway.”

The man fell from the racing bike and suffered injuries to his head and body, police said. He was taken to NY Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell, where he died. His name was not released, pending family notification.

The owner of the dog remained on scene, according to police. The dog was not injured.

According to the Central Park Conservancy, dogs can be off-leash until 9 a.m., but not on the park drives.

The crash site is almost identical to the location where a pedal cyclist struck a pedestrian last month. The pedestrian later died from the injuries he sustained — the first pedestrian killed by a cyclist in Central Park since 2014.

After the crash, the Central Park Conservancy said it was “heartbroken.”

“Central Park was created more than 150 years ago to provide a peaceful, joyful respite for all from the intense pace and pressures of the surrounding city,” the group said in a statement. “The Park cannot continue to serve that purpose unless all New Yorkers hold to the essential agreement of public space: know and follow the rules, and respect your fellow visitors.

“The tragedy this morning and other recent incidents show what can happen when that agreement is broken. … Leash your dog, observe speed limits, and follow the rules of the Park.”

Lisa B., a local cyclist and dog owner who saw the aftermath of the crash told Streetsblog dogs may be sprinting across the pathway because they smell food from a nearby food truck, and that she walks about 50 feet away from the crossing before she lets her own hound off-leash.

“There’s just no reason for dogs to be off leash over there. It’s very tragic, horrible,” she said.

Ken Coughlin, who helped lead the year-long fight to make the park drives car-free, called off-leash dogs “a real hazard for cyclists.”

“I think there’s there’s a strong argument for requiring dogs to be leashed, except in fenced in areas, because they’re unpredictable and they’re very fast,” Coughlin said. “I do loops in the park myself and and I think about it, but you can’t think about it all the time. You can’t be prepared all the time for something darting out in your your path. I think maybe the Conservancy and the Parks Department need to take a really hard look at changing the rules.”

With Sam Brule and Sammy Sussman