They've been pushed out of Times Square and were nearly swept away from Herald Square. Now a City Councilwoman wants to ban cars from Central and Prospect Parks.
City Councilwoman Gale Brewer (D-Manhattan) will introduce a bill today that would restrict vehicles from traveling along the main, 6-mile loop in Central Park and inside Brooklyn's Prospect Park.
"There is always a challenge of safety in the park, even in the off hours," Brewer said. "It's like Grand Central station in terms of joggers, bikers, skateboarders, online skaters and cars."
Brewer said she favors cyclists over cars because biking is safer and better for the environment.
In 2006, a similar bill never got out of the Transportation Committee.
Central Park cyclists would likely welcome this news, if they weren't so busy being ticketed by police for speeding, even though often, they are within the limit.
Prospect Park is already embroiled in controversy over the bike lane on Prospect Park West, which so angered a group of politically well-connected New Yorkers, that they filed a lawsuit to get rid of it.
As for bike lanes in general, a recent poll suggests most New Yorkers are gung ho about them, as is Deputy Mayor Howard Wolfson.