ROAD WORRIER: Laura Moretti was one of at least a dozen victims of tacks laid on a bike route in northern Central Park. (
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Somebody hates Central Park cyclists so much that they are waging war on them with the ultimate weapon — thumbtacks!
A mysterious pedal protester caused a tire massacre last week by sprinkling a slew of tiny tacks across the Park Drive during the peak morning riding period, The Post has learned.
The tack attack left more than a dozen pricey, high-tech racing bikes with flat tires — and even caused a few cyclists to hit the pavement. One of the riders reported the carnage to the Central Park Precinct and cops promised to investigate — but sources said there was no official paperwork.
“We have more important things to worry about, like people getting shot and squirrels getting run over,” said one cop. “A flat tire is not the crime of the century.”
The mayhem went down around 6 a.m. on July 3, as cyclists came down the slope of Harlem Hill.
“I was paying close attention to everything around me, and I was looking for major hazards like potholes, not things like thumbtacks,” said rider Steve Vaccaro. “I rode over it and my tire instantly deflated, and after that I fell to the ground,” said the Manhattan attorney. “I ripped the skin off my elbow and it’s pretty sore, but I don’t have any broken bones.”
Another rider, Ben Noble, 42, said the incident caused havoc for many park riders.
“I’ve ridden thousands of miles in here, and I’ve seen maybe two people in three years with flat tires,” he said. “And that morning I saw easily 12 people with flat tires.”
Laura Moretti, 29, who is part of a triathlon team called Asphalt Green, was on a training ride when she suddenly felt her bike mishandling.
“I looked down, and I noticed there was a silver tack in my front wheel,” she said. “I was annoyed because this was done on purpose.”
One of Moretti’s teammates, Jonathan Giahn, 33, has an idea who may have been behind the tack trouble.
“I really don’t want to point fingers, but some think it could have been a disgruntled runner,” he said. “There is kind of a rivalry in the park between cyclists and runners.”
Some of Central Park’s long-suffering non-cyclists said they can understand the motivation for the attack.
“Cyclists are very self-entitled. They come cruising by and almost hit you, and if you say something they say something back.”
Additional reporting by Antonio Antenucci and Kevin Fasick