A serious incident on the Marine Parkway Bridge involved a kite string that injured two cyclists, leaving one critically hurt. Robert Hillebrand suffered severe throat injuries and was hospitalized, while Jennifer Noble received minor injuries. The NYPD reported no criminality but witnesses disputed the nature of the string. Hillebrand's condition necessitated blood transfusions, while eyewitness accounts described dramatic scenes of the cyclists struck. The incident raises questions about public safety regarding outdoor activities and the potential hazards posed by kite flying.
"It was an incredible amount of blood," Joey Eisler, one of the friends, said in an interview. "It was an image that will stay with me, the look of someone who just had their throat cut."
Police said the injuries were caused by a kite string draped across the roadway, and Noble has said she'd seen a kite that looked like those used for 'kite fighting' - where participants try to cut the strings of their opponents' kites, sometimes by using strings with glass coating.
Robert Hillebrand was taken to Coney Island hospital and later transferred to Kings County hospital, where he was stable condition Friday in the intensive care unit, his friends said.
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.
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