Father of 2 Dies Days After Cyclist Strikes Him During Walk Through Central Park

A 41-year-old father of two died four days after a cyclist struck him as he walked through Central Park on his way to work at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Richie O’Brien was near 84th Street shortly after 6:30 a.m. Sept. 23, when a northbound cyclist hit him, according to CBS News New York. The collision knocked O’Brien to the pavement and threw the 32-year-old cyclist from his bicycle.

O’Brien suffered a severe head injury and was taken to NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center. He died Sept. 27.

The cyclist suffered minor injuries. The NYPD’s Collision Investigation Squad is investigating the crash, and no charges or summonses have been publicly announced.

On His Way

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O’Brien was a union steamfitter and was walking to his job at the Metropolitan Museum of Art when he was struck.

Friend and co-worker Casey Bartels told CBS that O’Brien’s work centered on providing for his wife and two daughters. Friends later organized a fundraiser to help his family after his death.

O’Brien’s family also said he became an organ donor. Streetsblog reported that he was able to donate three organs before his death.

The Bike

The crash quickly prompted online speculation about whether the cyclist had been riding an e-bike. Available reporting indicates otherwise.

Streetsblog described the bicycle as a regular pedal bike. A person who said she was at the scene also wrote in a discussion among Central Park cyclists that it was not an e-bike but a conventional bicycle.

That distinction matters because neither police nor the available witness reporting has established the cyclist’s speed. Claims that the rider was traveling 30 or 35 mph, or that an electric bike was involved, are not supported by the information released so far.

The 32-year-old rider remained at the scene after the collision.

Which Drive?

There is also a discrepancy over exactly where the crash happened.

Early information attributed to the NYPD by multiple publications placed the collision on West Drive near West 84th Street. But West Side Rag reported that witness Laura Sackler said the police account contained a location error and that the collision actually occurred on East Drive near 84th Street, close to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

CBS News New York also places the collision on East Drive. The precise location therefore appears to have been corrected in some subsequent reporting, although the NYPD’s original information circulated with the West Drive location.

A Shared Road

Central Park’s drives are used simultaneously by pedestrians, runners, cyclists and other wheeled users.

The Central Park Conservancy says the redesigned drives separate pedestrians, slower cyclists and faster wheeled traffic into designated lanes. It instructs cyclists and other wheeled users to follow the one-way traffic pattern and stop for pedestrians at crosswalks.

The Conservancy has also been pushing for additional measures to reduce conflicts on the drives as their use has changed. The city began redesigning the six-mile loop in 2025 to create clearer separation between pedestrians and cyclists and rework crossings and traffic signals.

What happened immediately before O’Brien and the cyclist collided — including their precise paths and the cyclist’s speed — has not been publicly established.

O’Brien is survived by his wife, Ronni, and their two daughters. The NYPD’s Collision Investigation Squad continues to investigate.