Officers, bicyclists bang heads over greenway's rules

By Tommy Hallissey

At least two cyclists are crying foul after they say 50th Precinct officers unfairly ticketed them for riding in Van Cortlandt Park after hours.

The riders, posting on the New York Cycle Club's message board, maintain they were on - or heading to - the Mosholu-Pelham Greenway, a designated bike route that snakes through Vannie Park after coming west from the New York Botanical Garden, when the officers pulled them over. While trespassing in the park after dusk is a ticketable offense - which requires an appearance before a judge and a possible fine - riding on the greenway is not, a Department of Parks and Recreation spokeswoman said. The greenway has no curfew.

One of the cyclists, who identified himself as Rich on the Web post, said he was riding in the park at 7:30 p.m. recently when he was confronted by the officers. "It was scary at first, because this unmarked van came rushing alongside, and it was totally unclear that they were cops at first," he wrote.

At the Parks Department's request, the officers were staking out the foot bridge near the Van Cortlandt Golf House. On Dec. 29, someone set a portion of the wood bridge on fire and the precinct is still investigating.

"We asked the police to pay more attention to that area," said Jesslyn Tiao, the Parks spokeswoman. But, she added, "At this point we're not sure why the police gave the [bikers] tickets."

Ms. Taio said the tickets could have been issued in the parking lot near the golf house, which is not technically part of the greenway. A sign posted in the lot clearly states the dusk curfew.

But, as Christina Taylor, executive director of the Friends of Van Cortlandt Park, pointed out, in order to access the greenway, bikers must ride through the lot.

"It clearly shows that you are supposed to cut across the parking lot," she said, explaining that white lines direct bikers across the pavement.

Ms. Tiao said after hearing complaints the Parks Department reached out to the New York Police Department - which oversees enforcement in city parks - to alert officers that there is no curfew on the greenway.

But the NYPD is trying to take the air out of that idea.

"The park is closed at dusk," a spokesman for DCPI, the NYPD press office, repeated several times.

Ms. Taylor said she feels it is important to keep that pathway open for riders, and to make it clear that the greenway is a usable path at all times.

After all, she said, "The city is trying to encourage people to use other modes of transportation besides driving."

This is part of the March 6, 2008 online edition of The Riverdale Press.

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