Bikers In Central Park Attacked By Thumbtacks From Anonymous Source

The scenic bike paths of Central Park were allegedly booby-trapped with thumbtacks last week, deflating tires and sending city cyclists flying off course.

The New York Post reports that at least 12 bikers' tires were punctured on July 3 at the Harlem Slope section of the park.

While police at the Central Park Precinct scoffed at the incident, saying "a flat tire is not the crime of the century," bikers were quick to see the thumbtacks as a weapon in a battle of a much larger war.

The culprits behind the thumb tack assault, they suggested, may be "self-entitled" Central Park runners.

A cyclist told The Post, “I really don’t want to point fingers, but some think it could have been a disgruntled runner. There is kind of a rivalry in the park between cyclists and runners.”

The often thorny relationship between runners and cyclists in Central Park is well-documented. (For example, the rift last fall over renovations to a Bronx trail.) But could runners really be so vengeful as to strategically plant thumbtacks and wreak havoc on their rivals?

Or perhaps dog owners are to blame? In 2006, over 50 city dog groups won the right to keep their pups unleashed during certain hours, a decision that left whizzing bikers disappointed.

Will Central Park bikers retaliate with their own tactics? Will runners reveal themselves as the thumbtack offenders? Is this all an overblown, #OnlyInNewYork incident? Stay tuned here for updates.