NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — A 71-year-old cyclist was killed Monday morning after running into an unleashed dog on East Drive in Central Park near East 84th Street, police said, and New Yorkers shared their concerns about safety for the bikers, pedestrians and children who fill the park each day.
"Many times you're on a path where you're walking, and tourists and people are bicycling in areas that are not—that are just for pedestrians, where it feels like 'Wait, I don't want to be worried about walking here,'" one lifelong New Yorker said.
The collision occurred at about 8:25 a.m. as the man, who was riding a trek racing pedal bike and wearing a helmet, struck the dog and then struck the pavement. He suffered injuries to his head and body and was rushed to NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Police said that the owner of the golden retriever was on the scene and the animal was not injured.
While dogs are allowed to be off-leash in the park from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m., the Central Park Conservancy confirmed that the rule is contained to certain areas, and animals must always be leashed on all Central Park Drives. The group also offered condolences to the family of the man who died.
"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 conservancy 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 incident comes after a fatal collision last month, when a 41-year-old pedestrian was struck by a cyclist and killed in the same area.
"And now, with the e-bikes, you have to be even more careful," said one New Yorker, who has been biking since he was 14. "I don't mean to blame it all on e-bikes and so forth, but you have people going very fast speeds that have not learned to go very fast speeds. And they don't know, they have no idea what the capabilities on that bike as of how you stop, how you stop fast, what you do in an accident."
"Whether it's people on e-bikes, people on bicycles, they race their bicycles like they're in the Tour de France, and they're not," another lifelong New Yorker and contributor of the conservancy told 1010 WINS. "They're in the middle of a city with thousands, hundreds of thousands of people in the park, children, everything, and they just really don't care."
