Make New York Post a Preferred Source Advocates are calling for stronger security measures in Central Park after the tragic death of a father of two who suffered traumatic brain injuries when he was hit by a cyclist in the iconic green space.
The Central Park Conservancy, in a statement last week after the crash that critically wounded Long Island resident Richie O’Brien, urged city officials to increase enforcement of traffic rules and renewed its calls for a 15 mph speed limit in the park’s drives.
But pedestrian safety activists placed the blame on the city Department of Transportation’s “dangerous” redesign of the park’s drives, which make up the 6.03-mile car-free loop around the park.
“This is such a tragedy and it didn’t have to happen,” Janet Schroeder, director of the New York City Electric Vehicle Safety Alliance, told The Post Monday.
O’Brien, a 41-year-old steamfitter, was walking along the East Drive when he was hit by a cyclist on a regular pedal bike near East 84th Street at around 6:30 a.m. September 23. He died on Sunday, according to his family.
The DOT’s changes to the drives included creating two new one-way lanes for slow and fast-moving bikes, with just a single two-way lane for pedestrians. Previously, the stretch had a walking lane, a bike lane and one or two vehicle paths.
Schroeder said the changes turned the drives into “a super highway for deliveristas, Citibikes, speeding bicyclists and illegal e-vehicles.”
She demanded that Conservancy President and CEO Betsy Smith resign or be fired for supporting the redesign, accusing the park’s stewards of ignoring warnings from her group.
Crashes in the drives have risen about 9% since December 2025, when the DOT said it completed the redesign of the East Drive south of 90th Street and of the West Drive south of 96th Street.
Police recorded 51 crashes on the drives from Dec. 1, 2025, through May 31 of this year, compared with 47 during the same stretch the year prior, an increase of four crashes, according to NYPD collision data, which only goes through June 11, 2026.
The DOT said it still needs to complete the project, including to repave and repaint some of the loop’s roads, replace traffic signals and add signs alerting cyclists about pedestrians.
“They are going to nicely ask riders to not go over 15? Put up signs?” Schroeder scoffed. “Who in the hell is going to follow that? There is zero accountability or enforcement in our parks.”
The remaining phase of the redesign covers the northern end of the loop, according to DOT docs. The agency did not provide a firm completion date.
A spokesperson said the DOT was reviewing the recent fatal crash, and the NYPD was also investigating.
The city has tried to mandate a 15 mph speed limit for bikes, but a judge put it on hold in February after the New York Cycle Club sued.
The City Council currently has no legislative proposal to establish a 15 mph limit in Central Park, specifically.
The council’s Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure is set to hold a hearing Wednesday to discuss e-bike safety.
Councilman Shaun Abreu, chair of the committee, said O’Brien’s death would inform the safety discussions, but that the hearing would remain focused on the electric vehicles rather than regular bikes.
