Did Bono Really Crash A Bike In Central Park?

(Bono on Bike, Courtesy iRadio)
"It looks like we will have to do our Tonight Show residency another time - we're one man down," said a statement released by mega rock star Bono's band U-2 on Sunday night. It explained that "Bono has injured his arm in a cycling spill in Central Park and requires some surgery". That succinct explanation left out virtually every detail and left much to be desired.. Then, on Wednesday night we learned that the rock star's injuries were far more grave than we expected. Bono actually broke his arm in 8 places, the bone broke the skin, he broke his eye socket and a finger as well. Yet, the only other detail on the accident came with the injury report: he was involved in a "high energy bike accident to avoid another rider."

The lack of detail seems fishy, and reeks of a potential cover up. There are so many unanswered questions:

When did it happen?

Where exactly did it happen?

How fast was he going?

Was he going the right way? In the Central Park, that is counter-clockwise.

Sunday is a big day in Central Park. It is crowded with bikers and joggers. I spent 2 hours on the loop that day doing distance work, and it didn't happen when I was there. In this day of social media and cell phone pics and video, wouldn't a couple pictures surface somewhere on the internet? Even if nobody recognized Bono, a crash that horrific would certainly attract attention. Not one person has come forward, not a soul. It just seems improbable that Bono could go down like the proverbial "tree in the forest" and nobody would hear it.

I reached out to the 22nd Precinct yesterday. The officer on the desk said that he has 'just read about the mishap in the paper today, but he hadn't heard anything about it around the station.' He encouraged me to reach out to the Deputy Commissioner of Public Information to see if there were any police or ambulance reports from that day in the park to corroborate Bono's story. So far, I haven't received a response.

I also reached out to various bikers, messengers, and city cycling advocates on Twitter and in person. These folks have quite a grapevine and love sharing whatever they know. That also has been a dead end.

Could the bike crash story be a cover up for something more embarrassing or nefarious? It has been a wicked week for Bono with his jet door flying off, in flight, just 3 days before the park mishap. Gawker has liberally joked that perhaps someone is trying to kill Bono. Maybe, just maybe, that is happening! Or, maybe he took a tumble down the steps of his San Remo duplex and didn't want to admit it is an old-manny way to get so banged up. Odds are, recklessness was likely involved on the part of Bono or others. The possibilities are endless!

We, being me, at A Fine Blog wish Bono the speediest of recoveries and wish him well. At the same time, we, being the pedestrians, joggers and cyclists that use Central Park and our streets in general want information. Information is how we make decisions to protect ourselves, it is also how we advocate to make our community safer for all. Until there is actual evidence or corroboration of the crash story, I say it is improbable, it never happened, and it is a cover for up for something. I would be happy to be proven wrong. Give us the facts, rather than ample room for conspiracy theories!


(I will update this story as needed)









Comments

  1. You have raised many important questions. Perhaps Bono suffered a drunken tumble down some stairs. Could he have fractured his eye socket if wearing a helmet? How could he also fracture his shoulder blade? A tumble down stairs seems more likely to impact him in the front and back with enough energy than a forward tumble on the ground. The regurgitation of press releases in this case show how utterly lazy journalists are. Why aren't some looking for and finding police, EMT, and witness reports/photos?

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  2. The hospital report mentions 11 fractures, all on the left side. For that to happen that left side had to have impacted something awfully hard. When I was younger, and riding a bike, I got hit by a car such that I experienced weightlessness for a short time before landing. I suffered two broken legs and one broken thumb, and that car was really moving. Recently (I am 56 now), I fell down some steps where I live, and I landed quite hard, but only got bruises and a strain. Now, project those into 11 fractures from the same incident. What must he have hit, and just how hard?

    It wouldn't surprise me if someone was trying to kill him, after all, he is an outspoken Christian, and, I believe, the other members of the band are Christian as well. One of their most popular concert songs is a rewording of the beginning of the 40th Psalm, and one of their most popular albums is about the Crucifix. Being devoted Christians, they also tend to take some rather unpopular positions on issues where radical profligates wish that Christians would just go away. What's to stop one of those radicals being enough bent in the head to try to help them "just go away"?. Add to that, being very public figures has already made them a bit of a target. Then you add their Christian stance on top of it all.

    That's not conspiracy theory stuff, but, sadly, is simple reality in today's sin-obsessed world, where so many people see are against the death penalty, except where it involves having to spend the rest of your life supporting the result of your sin-obsessed behavior. Murdering it is just so much easier, don't you think? The fact that most people think themselves good in this society with the behaviors they regularly pursue shows just how bent they are.

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  3. Now we are into January 2015 and I just noticed that Bono issued a rambling 6,000-word statement entitled "LITTLE BOOK OF A BIG YEAR - BONO’S A TO Z OF 2014" on his website which only says that " ... just four years on, it happened again - a massive injury I can't blame on anyone but myself, mainly because I blanked out on impact and have no memory of how I ended up in New York Presbyterian .." Now I know he is a rock star and not a legal writer but ... if he "blanked out on impact", surely he might remember what happened before the impact. When I first heard this story I noted that the press told us that "Bono swerved to avoid another rider." I waited eagerly for that other rider to come forward and tell his story .... dammit, where is TMZ on this story? ... that's just the sort of thing TMZ loves to put on the web: "Cyclist nearly hit by Bono says rock star was 'in a frenzy' and 'riding the wrong way.' " But nooooo .... nothing but silence .... a deafening silence, indeed.

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  4. San Louis. Thanks for picking up on this mystery. As you can tell, I'm not buying the story as it is absolutely improbable.

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  5. I found your blog after the latest news. I am in NC but ridden CP many times and it is packed then. No witnesses or images is nearly impossible. Why isn't the NYC media digging into this? It doesn't change the result but the truth matters for such a public figure.

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  6. hmmm seems very interesting to me!

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  7. Though no one exactly knows what had happened and if he was under influence of drugs or alcohol. My friend who assist a Los Angeles DUI lawyer told me that it seemed to be case of drunk or drugged driver as anyone in their senses would have never crashed the way he did.

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  8. You all need to find a job or have kids or do something to pass the time . This whole idea that you are on to here is apalling . The greatest frontman in history had an awful crash if i saw someone taping it with their phone i would take the phone off them and smash it on the ground

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  9. You all need to find a job or have kids or do something to pass the time . This whole idea that you are on to here is apalling . The greatest frontman in history had an awful crash if i saw someone taping it with their phone i would take the phone off them and smash it on the ground

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