Two cyclists were hospitalized early Thursday, October 22, 2026, after their bikes collided head-on in a bike lane outside 35 Central Park North in Harlem, leaving a 27-year-old rider in critical condition with severe head trauma. A 20-year-old cyclist suffered head and body injuries in the same crash and was listed in stable condition. Both riders were thrown from their bicycles onto the pavement.
According to ABC7 New York, the 27-year-old had reportedly been riding westbound in a lane designated for eastbound traffic when he collided head-on with the 20-year-old, who was riding the correct way. Both men were taken to Mount Sinai Morningside Hospital for treatment following the wreck.
Video captured at the scene appears to show that one of the two bicycles involved was an e-bike, while the other was a Citi Bike, the station reported. It remains unclear which rider was on which bike, and no further details about the collision — including an official police account, citations or the exact time of the crash — have been released.
A Park Path Under Growing Strain
Thursday's crash adds to what has become a steady drumbeat of serious collisions along Central Park's car-free loop. More than 100,000 people walk, jog and bike through the park every day, according to Gothamist, and the outlet reports that three people have died in crashes on the park's six-mile loop since June.
Among those deaths, a 71-year-old man fell from his bike on East Drive near 84th Street while trying to avoid an off-leash dog, the outlet reported, a case also covered by CBS News New York. A 41-year-old pedestrian was struck and killed by a cyclist at the same intersection the month before, per the same Gothamist report, and an e-bike rider died after hitting a pedestrian in the park back in August 2019.
E-Bikes Add a New Layer of Risk
E-bikes have been officially permitted in Central Park since June 2023 under a city pilot program capping speeds at 15 mph, according to the New York Daily News. That outlet detailed a separate case from July, when a 43-year-old woman jogging in the park was struck by a 26-year-old cyclist riding an e-bike; she suffered a traumatic brain injury, a broken elbow and deep leg lacerations that required a skin graft.
The same report noted that an 80-year-old woman was run down by an e-biker at the same location back on April 16, 2024, shattering her leg. Park advocates have pointed to a 2024 safety study, cited by Gothamist, that recommended installing protected two-way bicycle lanes on every street surrounding Central Park — infrastructure that remains inconsistent today, with Central Park West offering a one-way protected lane, 110th Street an unprotected one, and 59th Street and Fifth Avenue none at all.
No additional details about Wednesday's investigation have been released, and it remains unknown whether any citations will follow the Central Park North collision.
