The commanding officer of New York City's Central Park police precinct said Monday evening March 14 he wants to solve the controversy over the blitz of speeding tickets issued this winter to bicyclists.
Captain Philip M. Wishnia said that he is in favor of “another way” to achieve safety on park roadways – such as allowing riders to pedal “without traffic lights,” or with “yellow lights," or by dedicating an entire lane exclusively to cyclists.
He spoke to a crowd of some 300 people, most of them cycling advocates, at the monthly precinct community council meeting at the Universalist Unitarian church on Central Park West at 76th Street.
Saying he was simply following citywide orders to ticket cyclists, Wishnia declared, “I’m willing to work with you guys."
“I believe there’s a possible way of correcting” the policy of suddenly and strictly applying to bike riders the laws originally made to slow down cars, Wishnia said. He acknowledged that for the past “10, 15, 30 years” those laws had not been enforced against cyclists.
Wishnia said it’s the job of the Department of Transportation, not the police, to change rules governing bikes in parks. He said DOT could adjust park stoplights, but suggested engineering studies would be needed first. Changing lights to flashing yellow when the park is car-free is one solution that had been proposed earlier by cycling groups. DOT was invited to the Monday night meeting but declined, said a community council official.
The Upper West Side’s city council member Gale Brewer told the crowd she supports cyclists and is in favor of yellow lights to allow uninterrupted bike riding when Central Park is closed to motorized traffic. Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer urged DOT to consider reconfiguring traffic lights earlier this month.
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