A simple request for cyclists to dismount along a short stretch of bike path in Riverside Park has been causing contention among park goers this summer.

A woman rides her bike down a path and past a sign in Riverside Park where riders are asked to dismount and walk their bikes.

In June, the Parks Department installed signs bearing the message “Cyclists must dismount” along the path that connects West 72nd Street and Riverside Drive with the Waterfront Greenway along the Hudson River. The area is home to a popular dog run and is frequently used by dog-walkers, pedestrians and cyclists who vie for control of the 5-foot wide path. Safety concerns prompted the Parks Department to put up the signs, but many cyclists aren’t obeying them and irate riders have torn down some of the signs.

Cristina DeLuca of the Parks Department confirmed the problems that people are having with the signs, and said in a statement, “We are working to accommodate multiple, competing park uses in very limited space. Cycling is an activity we fully support and will continue to encourage, but our first priority is always safety.”

Council Member Gale Brewer advocated for the installation of the signs in an attempt to make the park safer for children, seniors, dog walkers and cyclists as well.

“We were shocked that the signs had been taken down at night,” she said.

Her office is organizing a meeting with community members to figure out a more permanent solution to the problems along the path.

On a recent Monday morning in the park, some cyclists dutifully dismounted, and an equal number ignored the signs, though all rode at safe speeds and steered away from pedestrians.

Kristina Kreber walks her dog in the park three times a day, and said that some cyclists make it unsafe.

“I ride my bike also, so I kind of straddle the issue,” Kreber said. “It would be less of a volatile issue if they would just say to bikers, ‘Can you please be more considerate?’”

Ren Tarpley rides her bike recreationally and walks it through the designated area. She said that the problem comes from large groups of cyclists on the weekends, not the occasional lone biker. “You see the bike tours coming through, there are like 30 of them, and they don’t dismount.”

She thinks the signs are a good idea, but only if people obey them.

Jeff Dedrick, another cyclist walking the path with his bike, said that while he normally rides slowly around pedestrians and doesn’t cause problems, he is fine with the signs and the dismount rule.

“I understand pedestrians are concerned,” he said. His wife hates it when bikes whiz by on the narrow paths.

While some are happy to see the signs up, it’s unclear how the Parks Department will enforce the new rule.

Tila Dunhaime, of bicyclist group Upper West Side Streets Renaissance Campaign, said that the signs don’t address more important and complicated issues of how city residents can share space effectively.

“I don’t think that the Parks Department did its homework in terms of establishing that there was a problem and considering a number of solutions,” Dunhaime said.

She emphasized the need for using the “3 E’s”—engineering, education and enforcement—to create viable bike paths, teach people how to use them safely and punish those who don’t.

Dunhaime said that enforcement should come not just from the Parks Department or the NYPD, but that we need “law-abiding cyclists to put peer pressure on the ones who are being jerks. To just lay down the long arm of the law and say everyone has to get off their bikes right now is a backwards way of looking at the problem.”

Just in time for summer, the final section of the Riverwalk pedestrian and bicycle path that runs through Riverside Park opened after a nearly three-year renovation.

The new construction includes a 1,000-foot-long, pile-supported platform that runs parallel to the Henry Hudson Parkway, from West 83rd to 91st streets. Now it’s possible to run, walk or bike from Dyckman Street in Inwood to Battery Park without interruption.

A procession celebrates the recently opened Riverwalk, which runs along the Hudson River from West 83rd to 91st streets.

Cristina DeLuca, a spokesperson for the Parks Department, said funding for the $15.7 million project came from the mayor’s office, Council Member Gale Brewer and a grant for enhancements to bicycle and pedestrian paths under the Federal Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act.

Riverside Park is a New York City park partly funded by the non-profit The Riverside Park Fund, which raises money for events and maintenance, but not construction projects.

“It’s a great, free way to get really good views of the Hudson River, but New Yorkers in-the-know, especially ones that live on the Upper West Side, use the greenways to get to work,” DeLuca said.

Though a continuous waterfront path has been long awaited, not everyone seemed to love the new design. Upper West Sider Diane Palmer said she thought it was too narrow.

“It’s not wide enough. It makes me nervous,” said Palmer, trying to remain in the 2-foot space allotted for walking on either side of the path, while bicyclists whizzed by. “It’s good for bicycles and joggers. [The path at] 73rd is better because it splits for walkers.”

The new walk, at around 10 feet wide, is narrower than the span from West 72nd to 83rd streets, which is about 21 feet wide.

Parks spokesperson DeLuca said that structural limitations probably prevented the department from making the new section wider.

“I’m assuming that the conditions of the river probably only allowed us to go this far,” DeLuca said. “It’s hard to make it uniform because of the pile construction.”

But Jack Shama, another Upper West Sider, was pleased with the final section of Riverwalk.

“I love the stone outside,” he said, referencing the granite retaining wall that separates the walk from the highway. Shama said he has run the completed greenway from the George Washington Bridge to Battery Park.

“Once you get to West Side Highway, it’s a little difficult because of tourists and traffic,” he said. “This is definitely the nicest leg of the run.”

DeLuca speculates that the greenways are mostly popular with residents, but are tourist attractions as well. Indeed, tourist Christina Bolm of Germany was biking on the greenway on a recent afternoon. She noticed it during a boat ride.

“I saw the bike tours but didn’t want to pay, so we rented a bicycle,” Bolm said. “It’s great; I haven’t had any problems [with overcrowding]. It’s a real difference than in my country. Usually if we have a path with bikes and walkers, there are often fights.”