Bike Outrage [Exclusive] Racks block EMS at victim's co-op

By Julia Marsh; Amber Sutherland

A Greenwich Village co-op board that has sued the city for blocking its entrance with bike-share racks nearly saw its worst fears realized yesterday when emergency responders had trouble getting to a 92-year-old resident in distress.

An EMS crew encountered difficulties getting the sick man from the entrance of The Cambridge at 175 W. 13th St., around 60 feet of bike racks and to the ambulance.

"I would like these bike racks to get out of the way," the victim's wife, Lee Liss, told The Post. "The ambulance couldn't get to him. These bike racks are a detriment."

Edward Liss, a retired physician who lives on the 20th floor, suffered an undisclosed medical emergency, according to authorities, and his family called for help around 2:30 p.m. yesterday.

"It's exactly what this building feared would happen," said Steven Shore, the building's attorney, who filed a lawsuit over the bike racks last week. "The good news is the guy's not dead."

Parking spots for 39 bicycles create a barricade that runs the length of the 20-story co-op. The ambulance was forced to park three doors down along West 13th Street for the emergency call, the co-op board's vice president, Dave Marcus, told The Post.

It took EMS workers more than an hour before Liss was taken to Beth Israel Hospital.

"With great difficulty they managed to get the guy out," said Marcus. He called the kiosk, which was installed in the dead of night last month, an "impregnable wall."

"The ambulance was forced to pull in at the eastern-most portion of the bike rack, where they had a clear shot to the sidewalk," Marcus added.

Liss was recovering at Beth Israel yesterday.

The Cambridge residents sued the city last Monday claiming the Department of Transportation put the rack on the wrong side of the street and then changed its maps to make the mistake look like part of the plan.

John Dewitt Gregory, 82, a longtime resident who uses a walker, said the obtrusive stations have made his daily life so difficult he's considering moving out.

"It's very difficult to navigate when I come outside the building," Gregory griped. "I can't get the walker through these stands because they're just too narrow. Going and coming back has become a real pain."

A Department of Transportation spokesman maintained that the EMTs had no trouble responding to the call. The FDNY did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

julia.marsh@nypost.com

Originally published by Julia Marsh and Amber Sutherland.

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