Fuming cyclists rip NYC for taking ‘sweet time’ to finish West Side bike path, leaving dangerous detours behind

It’s going off the beaten path.

New York City took eight months to finish roughly 30 blocks of bike lane on the West Side — and a similar project along the scenic Hudson River Greenway is expected to languish for another year, The Post has learned.

The lengthy city projects have been agonizing for cyclists, forcing some to pedal across dangerous streets or even ignore construction signs.

“They are taking their sweet time with this construction,” said Danny Diaz, 37, a car rental worker who bikes along the Hudson River Greenway from work in Brooklyn.

“I’ve been living in New York for a while, so you expect they don’t complete things when they say they will, but this is kind of ‘come on man.’ They don’t even have that much work to do.”

Diaz’s frustration — and those of many locals and cyclists who spoke to The Post — stems from overlapping closures of Riverside Park’s Cherry Walk Greenway between 100th Street and St. Clair Place and the Fort Washington Park Greenway between West 181st and Dyckman Streets.

Both are part of the wider Hudson River Greenway that provides pedestrians and cyclists a picturesque, car-free journey along Manhattan’s West Side.

The first leg started in September, as crews embarked on a $1.5 million project to reconstruct the Cherry Walk Greenway, remove cracks and smooth out its surface.

But cyclists griped that the closure came with a dangerous detour through the green space’s pedestrian-clogged walkways and onto Riverside Drive.

They also grew frustrated that the project’s March end date not only came and went, but the city Department of Parks & Recreation listed it as finished — despite the path still being closed, with detour signs remaining into May.

Some adventurous cyclists took to ignoring the construction barriers.

Two weeks ago, The Post spotted personal trainer Kenny Wong, 61, jumping the fence and riding his bike along the freshly paved — but as yet unopened — Cherry Walk Greenway.

“I’m from New York, I don’t pay attention to the fences,” the Upper West Side resident said.

“What are they going to do? Tell me to leave?”

Parks officials said pavement markers needed to be completed before the path could be reopened.

The path finally reopened by this week, but cyclists now have to contend with the Fort Washington Park closure — which is expected to end in March 2026, according to the parks department.

The project near the George Washington Bridge, with a price tag of less than $1 million, will reconstruct a segment of bike path along the Henry Hudson Parkway.

Even before it closed for construction in April, the path had sporadically been blocked off to cyclists and pedestrians because of sinkholes.

“I can’t walk my dog uptown because of the sinkhole,” said Sam Wolgemuth, 35, a Washington Heights resident. 

“They tried fixing the sinkholes in the past, but it didn’t work, I guess. It’s been closed off and on for two years.”

Peter Freed, 72, a videographer from Riverdale, added that the closure’s detour sends cyclists such as himself to a stretch of Broadway between Dyckman and West 181st streets that’s dangerous for those on two wheels.

“The detour’s terrible — there’s potholes, there’s cars double-parked that the cops don’t care about, there are scooter delivery hubs,” he said.

Freed noted a “beautiful” new bike path on the Henry Hudson Bridge — an MTA project — effectively emptied onto a treacherous detour for the closed Hudson River Greenway.

He wondered why the city didn’t coordinate their projects, including the Riverside Park path, to be done at the same time.

“Why don’t they do the work in the winter? We had a fairly mild winter,” he said. “It’s stupid.”

The parks department dodged The Post’s query about cyclists’ frustrations about the closures and detours leading through rough streets.

“We’re committed to ensuring our public spaces can safely accommodate the diverse ways New Yorkers engage with them—whether they’re commuting, exercising, relaxing, or simply enjoying the outdoors—by prioritizing accessibility, thoughtful design, and shared use for all,” said Tricia Shimamura, NYC Parks’ borough commissioner for Manhattan, in a statement.

The sinkhole problem along the whole Hudson River Greenway prompted the parks department to start a 12-month study to delve into engineering alternatives for the restoration of a retaining wall that could eliminate future sinkholes, officials said.

Contractors have started working on the sinkholes and are expected to finish by the summer, officials said.