Cyclist critically injured by bus

Matthew Long, an off-duty firefighter who was biking to work last Thursday morning during the transit strike, was struck and dragged underneath a bus at Third Ave. at 52nd St. Long, 39, was biking northbound at 5:48 a.m. on his way to the Fire Department’s training academy on Randall’s Island where he worked, when the bus made an illegal right turn crossing two lanes of traffic and hit him. His body was tangled in the bike frame and he was reported in critical condition at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell hospital. The bus was on its way to pick up Bear Stearns workers stranded because of the transit strike and take them to the firm’s Midtown offices. Long didn’t usually bike to work but was reportedly doing so because of the transit strike. He was in top physical condition, and recently competed in the 2005 New York City Marathon. He is the son of Michael Long, head of the New York State Conservative Party.