Barriers have been installed along the Hudson River bike path following Tuesday’s fatal attack

Officials have installed more than 100 concrete barriers along the Hudson River Park bike path this week in a direct response to the attack on Tuesday that left eight people dead and several more injured. According to police department officials, the attacker drove onto the bike path at Houston Street, drove south and deliberately collided with pedestrians and cyclists before exiting at Chambers Street, where he crashed into a school bus. The new barriers, which the Times reports are installed at 57 different intersections along the path, aim to prevent another similar incident from happening. 

City officials took similar measures following a fatal car accident in Times Square last May, during which a driver sped down the sidewalk along Broadway between 42nd and 45th Streets, killing one person and injuring more than 20 others. In the days following that accident, officials installed a batch of concrete barriers on sidewalks and curbs in the area to prevent cars from accessing the walkway. They still remain in place. 

The new Hudson River Park barriers aren’t exactly gaining a lot of praise. Transportation Alternatives executive director Paul Steely White actively criticized them in a statement on Friday, saying that they discourage people from riding bicycles on the path. “The installation of dangerous concrete barriers across the Hudson River Greenway bike and pedestrian paths is an ill-advised and unacceptable solution to a critical security problem,” he said. “The city needs to publicly establish a hard timetable for removal of these barriers and implementation of more thoughtful solutions that maintain the safety and integrity of the greenway.”

White noted that the barriers are temporary, but he doesn’t expect the city to take action to replace them any time soon. Transportation advocates, White included, have long pushed for the installation of bollards at key intersections along the bike path, which would be significantly less intrusive than the barriers installed this week. 

A statement from Department of Transportation regarding the barriers was not immediately available. 

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