LIVE BLOG: Follow Along as Streetsblog Spends the Day in Central Park!

Just off of the drive near W. 63rd Street, there’s a baseball field a tight knit group of dog walkers call “the sand.” As dogs rolled and wrestled on Tuesday, their owners discussed the recent fatal collision between a cyclist and dog in the park.

Kari S., who wanted her last name withheld because of the contentious relationship between cyclists and dog walkers, was playing fetch with her spunky dog Molly at around 7:30, their daily ritual.

Kari said she has a lot of thoughts about the current state of the park. For one, she doesn’t like the new blinking yellow lights DOT implemented at signalized crossings.

“They make us play frogger to cross the road, and now [the cyclists] just yell at us,” she said. “Cyclists, I mean, it’s like they’re racing and they never stop.”

Kari, who is at the park every morning with Molly, said her group of dog owners never got any outreach to inform them of the new design. As for solutions, she said if she had her way there would be no “speed cyclists” in the park.

As we were chatting, Matt Allen and his dog Banjo came over. Allen told Streetsbog he doesn’t share Kari’s negative view of the new traffic signals. For him, the new lights do a better job managing expectations.

“I think it’s a more accurate representation of what’s happening,” he said.

The two agreed that while tensions may surface, things at the park are mostly good.

“As dog owners, we are a community of people that think the park is only for us. Everyone who uses the park thinks it’s their park and everyone else is the problem,” Allen said.

We’ve witnessed our first (known) crash of the day: A cyclist heading downhill at 83rd Street on the West Drive lost his hat and fell as he tried to grab it. Police are on the scene of the 8 a.m. crash.

We’ll be staying on this for now and will have more soon.

Along the West Drive in the northwest corner of the park, Joggers and cyclists braced themselves for Harlem Hill’s steep climb.

Joggers Ben Buffumi, 28, and Nick Layski, 29 stepped off of the road to hydrate before the incline.

Buffumi said the park feels hectic after “you pass 70th street.”

“That’s when I’m more on high alert,” he said, adding that the northern end of the park is usually calmer and less busy.

“North of 72nd Street it seems way chiller,” Layski said in agreement. Throughout the park, he said, “some of the crossings are a little more blind, so people can get surprised by something darting out.”

That’s how a 71-year-old cyclist died on the drive earlier this month —after colliding with an off-leash dog.

But Layski, like many Central Park users, isn’t just a runner. He also takes his dog in the park.

“I have a dog as well and we sometimes do off-leash with her during off-leash hours,” he said. “I see both sides of the coin.”

Hey, it’s Gersh Kuntzman.

I’m going to be reporting later this morning from the Central Park transverses, the four crosstown roadways that pass under the park and serve bus riders, car drivers, some pedestrians, and a few cyclists who brave the traffic on the narrow roadways.

Many people don’t realize this, but the transverses were part of the park’s design long before there were even cars.

Our Fall Specialist Sam Brule did some digging for us the other day and discovered that when a state-appointed Board of Commissioners announced a formal design competition in October 1857, anyone hoping to win the design was required to include at least four transverse roads (plus parky things like a parade ground for military drills, a formal flower garden, three playgrounds for “healthful exercise,” a site for concerts and exhibitions, a prominent fountain, an observation tower, a winter skating area, and “at least one institution of cultural uplift or practical knowledge”).

Olmsted and Vaux famously won the commission, and even though we have issues with it today, their traffic circulation system, which separated walkers, horseback riders, and carriages — and sunk the transverse roads below grade — is considered their most innovative concepts.

I’ll see you later on the transverses!

The city’s failure to fully implement a comprehensive redesign of the drives in Central Park as proposed in 2024 has left park users struggling as the formerly car-choked path has boomed with a wide variety of recreational uses, we reported on Monday.

In 2024, the departments of Transportation and Parks, plus the Central Park Conservancy released a comprehensive study and redesign proposals conducted by the consulting firm TYLin (where current DOT Commissioner Mike Flynn worked). The study outlined a set of near-, middle-, and long-term recommendations that would reorganize and simplify the park Drives.

But these changes were not implemented by the city’s transportation and park officials, who at the time were DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez and Parks Commissioner Sue Donoghue, both appointed by then-Mayor Eric Adams.

Click here for the full story.

Just after 7 a.m. near the Wollman Rink, a few dog parents were letting their pets greet each other.

Fabio Granato, who lives on 61st Street, told Streetsblog he walks his pup here every morning. Granato said his main complaint about the park is that it has been dirtier recently.

As far as coexisting with cyclist and pedestrians on the drive, he doesn’t see it as an issue.

“I don’t feel nervous,” he said. “It’s the most beautiful park in the world.”

A few delivery workers are out on their e-bikes. There are some people on city bikes, and a lot of people out walking dogs.

The park at this hour feels like a well-oiled machine. Everybody knows where they’re supposed to be and what they should be doing.

Good morning from Tavern on the Green!

Central Park bustled with runners and cyclists at 6:30 this morning. When I got to the park, the stars were out and the air is peaceful. Why don’t I do this more often? (Answer: I woke up at 4:30 today.)