Prospect Park Safety In The Spotlight Again Following Deadly Cyclist-Pedestrian Crash In Central Park
After a pedestrian was killed when a cyclist collided with her in Central Park, safety concerns in our own Prospect Park are once again on people’s minds, and we wanted to see what neighbors think should happen in our neck of the woods.
NY1 took to the loop around Prospect Park recently and spoke with pedestrians who said it’s an ongoing problem crossing the paved path, as many cyclists tend to ignore the red lights at crosswalks — which the news crew captured multiple times on camera.
Guidelines, which are posted online and on signs in the park, require cyclists to stop at the pedestrian-activated signals, noting that pedestrians have the right of way in the loop. Additionally, the speed limit is set at 25 miles per hour. Pedestrians have complained that it’s particularly dangerous to cross on the southwest side of the park, near Vanderbilt Playground, which is toward the bottom of a hill.
The 78th Precinct, which covers the park, will be focusing on educating cyclists about the requirement that they stop at the pedestrian-activated signals on the main loop during an initiative starting this Saturday, October 4, Captain Frank DiGiacamo said during the precinct’s community council meeting last night. The initiative will involve two portable stop signs that officers will set up in the park and man during the day — when cyclists stop, they’ll remind them they’re supposed to stop for pedestrians at the red signals and hand out flyers noting the 25-mile-per-hour speed limit, and if they don’t stop, they’ll follow and pull them over to tell them the same.
“Then if that doesn’t work, the next step is enforcement, and we’ll bring out the radar gun,” DiGiacomo said. “We’ve done that and seen the speeds were pretty excessive. We need to slow them down, we know it’s an issue.”
For more information about last night’s meeting, see coverage from our sister sight, Park Slope Stoop.
The cyclists-versus-pedestrians conversation in Prospect Park grew contentious several years ago after a couple of crashes left two pedestrians critically injured. A safety campaign grew out of that, leading to a reworking of the lanes in the loop, those pedestrian-activated signals, and, at times, some additional enforcement by local police.
Ticketing of cyclists is up around the city, with 21,085 tickets issued throughout the boroughs so far this year, up from 17,440 citywide during the same period last year, reports NBC New York. Cops have been spotted ticketing cyclists in Prospect Park this year, as well as in other parts of the neighborhood during a two-week blitz called Operation Safe Cycle.
If you’re a cyclist or a pedestrian (or both!), what have your experiences been like in the park? How do you think we can address these concerns?