“Someone is going to get killed”: Kite strings across bike path leave New York cyclists with severe injuries, including slashed forehead and throat

The incident occurred last weekend as a group of cyclists was crossing the Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge from Rockaway to Marine Park in Queens.

Robert Hillebrand, who runs the bike touring company Freewheelin’ Bike Tours, suffered a deep slash to his throat and has been unable to speak since the incident, requiring blood transfusions and emergency surgery. Gothamist reports that he still remains in the intensive care unit at Kings County Hospital.

Joey Eichler, one of Hillebrand’s friends, said: “It was an incredible amount of blood. It was an image that will stay with me, the look of someone who just had their throat cut.”

Robert Hillebrand, cyclist injured by kite strings (credit: CBS News)

Jennifer Noble, another cyclist in the group, received stitches and suffered a broken finger. She told CBS News: “It hit my upper lip and my nose, and then it cut through my forehead. The string also cut through the muscle of my index finger and my helmet’s temple strap. It looked like a movie. Like it looked fake. There was just so much blood.

“And then I just hear screaming behind me. And it hit my friend who was behind me in the throat and cut his throat open.”

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Noble thanked the onlookers who sprang into action, bandaging her finger and applying pressure to her friend’s neck. “He’s not able to work. He’s going to have a lot of medical bills,” she added.

Jennifer Noble, cyclist injured by kite strings (credit: CBS News)

She herself has been forced to return to the emergency room for ongoing pain in her finger: “Looks like there are bone fragments in the joint, which is why I’m having so much pain now. It tore through me. It just seems really horrifically, dangerously negligent to have this stuff out there in the world.”

Julian Rose, a 43-year-old cook and woodworker, said he was behind Hillebrand when the string struck him. Rose described it as a yellow nylon string that was stretched across the road.

“They collected a string,” Rose said. “But it’s not clearly determined that that was the specific string or not.”

Kite fighting is an activity which involves participants flying kites equipped with strings coated with powdered glass or other abrasives in an attempt to cut down their opponents’ kites. The practice has long been blamed for littering areas around Jamaica Bay in New York with hazardous string, with locals having repeatedly raised concerns.

Danny Mundy, president of the Broad Channel Civic Association, told Gothamist that his own father was injured by kite string in 2022. “He was on a bike trail by [Broad Channel American Park],” he said. “He couldn’t see it and it hit him in the throat and he ended up with a laceration.”

He also added that local waterfowl have been killed after becoming entangled. “It’s absolutely dangerous and unacceptable. We can’t do this no more because someone is going to get killed.”

A NYPD spokesperson confirmed that no criminality was determined in the incident, however, the city’s parks department said that kite fighting is banned in all parks and the matter is under investigation.

Bike path on Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge (credit: Google Street View)

Things haven’t been great for New York cyclists in the last few months. In February, President Donald Trump pledged to “get rid of the bike lanes” and “kill” congestion pricing, claiming that reduced traffic was bad for business and a sign that “no one’s coming to the city.”

“They should get rid of the bike lanes and the sidewalks in the middle of the street,” he said. “They’re so bad. They’re dangerous. These [electric] bikes go at 20 miles an hour. They’re whacking people.”

Meanwhile, the NYPD’s decision to start issuing criminal summonses instead of civil fines to cyclists who roll through stop signs or red lights has come under intense scrutiny and criticism.

Ben Furnas, executive director of Transportation Alternatives, said: “This is an obscene escalation from the police department, and not one that’s grounded in real safety, data, or best practices. We know what works — building the bike lanes and street improvement projects that corridors like Broadway need — not suddenly locking up people on bikes.”

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There are also serious concerns about racial and class inequalities. Attorney Steve Vaccaro warned that undocumented riders could face deportation risks by being forced into criminal courtrooms. “Forcing them to go to a criminal courthouse… it’s problematic,” he said, bluntly describing courthouses as “a place to round up deportees.”

Further criticism has come via legal action. Oliver Casey Esparza, a cyclist ticketed in October for crossing with a walk signal — something legal for bikes in NYC since 2019 — has sued the NYPD, accusing it of misapplying the law and demanding compensation for wrongfully penalised cyclists.