Traffic Jam on Central Park Bridle Path, Latest UWS Parking Uproar

Upper West Siders are in an uproar over the veritable traffic jam of cars parked on the bridle path in Central Park in recent weeks

Gale Brewer, who represents a district on the Upper West Side that includes that portion of Central Park, said after receiving complaints from constituents, she dispatched aides who counted 88 cars parked there in a single day.

The story was reported first by the New York Post. Brewer complained to the city Department of Transportation and the NYPD but as of press time had yet to receive a response.

“My office has received multiple complaints from park users reporting a significant number of NYPD cruisers and scooters, along with DPR [Department of Parks & Recreation] and unmarked vehicles, parked on the path,” Brewer wrote in a letter addressed to Parks Commissioner Iris Rodriguez-Rosa and NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch.

“Park users complain that the amount of vehicles is a safety and transparency issue, combined with the resulting deterioration and loss of park area. Last week, my office found a total of 88 vehicles parked along the bridle path, including 24 NYPD vehicles with more that seemed to be arriving, 5 Parks vehicles, and 59 unmarked vehicles.

“I am requesting an interagency meeting to resolve this matter so that the number of vehicles on the bridle path is limited and adequate park space is ensured for all users,” Brewer wrote.

It’s the second major uproar about parking on the UWS in recent months. Back in mid-August, the Spirit broke the news that along a dozen blocks along Columbus Avenue, alternate-side-of-the-street parking signs were taken down and replaced with signs for a parking app with limited parking hours each day.

Before the dead-of-night sign switch, drivers were allowed to park on the street for several days at a time and were forced to move only twice a week for the one and a half hours when street sweepers were slated to clean as part of the alternate-side-of-the-street parking regulations.

Brewer and CB7 wrote to DOT and Mayor Eric Adams to protest the abrupt change. In that case, the DOT, at the urging of the mayor, quickly reversed course and restored the original alternate-side-of-the-street parking rules within days.

There has been no quick resolution to the current uproar, which has apparently been brewing for many months.

“It started out with a very small amount of cars,” a 60-year Manhattan resident named Tamara told The Post. “Every year, it gets bigger and bigger and bigger, and now it feels like a parking lot.”

The 4.2-mile bridle path is intended to be used solely by joggers and horses. But the situation is undoubtedly made more complicated because many of the vehicles on the bridle path are connected to the police department, either official NYPD vehicles and/or the private vehicles driven by police to the precinct.

There is also speculation that the congestion pricing tolls, which begin at 60th Street, may be enticing more motorists to find ways to beat the $9 toll, which began in January.