CPC Removes 16 of 17 Bicycle Rules Posters

I got to the crosswalk at about 10:40 yesterday, Sunday, and noticed that the assembly of signs and a barrier protecting our crosswalk had been moved off the roadway. This usually happens when there is an early morning event like a run. The assembly should be promptly repositioned onto the roadway after the event but it usually falls to me to reposition the signs and barrier in the manner proscribed by NY DOT. 

There are two crosswalks with similar sets of signs and a barrier in the Lower Loop on West Drive. One is ours and the other is between Tavern-On-The-Green and Sheep Meadow, so I went up to Sheep Meadow to look and of course, the assembly there was on the side of the roadway, too.

I repositioned the signage and barriers properly at both crosswalks and, while doing so at the Sheep Meadow, was warned by a Parks Enforcement Officer on horseback and his sidekick that I had no authority to do so and that he would remove them from the roadway and put them back on the sidewalk. I asked for a citation. He declined, rode off with Tonto, and never returned.

I then took an inspection tour of the CPC Park Rules for Bicycle posters I had hung at the 17 crosswalks in the Lower Loop the day before. All but 1 had been removed by CPC overnight but to their credit, they had done a nice clean job of removing them and not creating an eyesore in the process. Nevertheless, it speaks volumes that CPC is more interested in removing Notices of Park Rules than making the park safer for families and kids by making the bicycle rules widely visible in the park.

By 1:49 pm, I was back in the crosswalk shooting video clips. The volume of traffic, both vehicles & pedestrians, in the park on the weekends is much higher than on the weekdays. Today was Father's Day. It is noticeable that virtually no one presses the button to call the white safe-to-walk light even when large crowds are waiting at the edges of the crosswalk and in the crosswalk behind the barrier, waiting for a chance to cross.

I shot clips for over an hour, focusing on the crosswalk when the stoplight was red and practicing speed measurement with the pocket radar. By now, many people know me and talk with me as I stand in front of the barrier. While I appreciate and enjoy the comradery, it distracts me from paying attention to what is going on in the crosswalk. There is no noise when the call button is pushed or when the red light comes on, so often when I am facing oncoming vehicles, I am only made aware of it when a vehicle stops.

Between 1:49 and 2:37, I shot 10 clips of activity in the crosswalk when the red light was on. Then I moved downstream and shot some test clips from a position that shows both the incoming traffic and the pedestrians as they move across the crosswalk. From this position behind the traffic light, it is impossible to see the color of the stoplight but it is possible to see the orange pedestrian light and its white safe-to-cross light. Next week I plan to test a stationary camera located in one of these downstream locations that could be used to stream to the internet.

By 2:50, I headed home to compose emails to Roger Mosier, Chief of Park Operations, 1) about a CPC vehicle that was speeding thru the crosswalk while pedestrians were in it, 2) asking who is responsible for repositioning the signage and barriers after a morning event, and 3) pointing out the irony of removing the CPC Park Rules Posters while doing nothing to make cyclists passively aware of the park rules, thus ensuring that compliance does not improve.

Today's screengrab is a Central Park Conservancy Vehicle speeding thru our crosswalk in front of pedestrians in the middle of the crosswalk.