Shortly before New Year’s, the New York City Parks Department and the Central Park Conservancy began a six-month pilot program permitting bicyclists to share a pedestrian path south of the 97th Street transverse. According to a Parks Department spokesperson, the path will be monitored to see if it should continue — or possibly even be expanded.
When the shared path program was first announced last June, there were supposed to be two. Parks wouldn’t comment on why the number of paths in the trial program had been reduced to one. But the lanes were not exactly welcomed by Community Board 8 — the board representing the east side. And last year, Central Park seemed to become center stage for a bike ticketing crackdown.
But earlier this week, when TN checked out the path, all was quiet. The park was relatively uncrowded at 10:30 in the morning on the west side.
Earlier reports indicted that there might be posted speed limits for cyclists, but the signs currently in place tell bicyclists to “ride slowly.” Other rules: yield to pedestrians, ride in single file, and no bicycle groups over four people.
If you’re looking for it, the path is just south of the 97th Street transverse and passes just north of the tennis courts on the West Side. (For a map of Central Park, go here.)
(photo by Kate Hinds)
