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Jill Tarlov, hit by a bicycle in Central Park last week, has died

New York Police Commissioner Bill Bratton speaks with the media during a news conference  in Manhattan on June 25, 2014.
New York Police Commissioner Bill Bratton speaks with the media during a news conference in Manhattan on June 25, 2014. Photo Credit: Nina Ruggiero

The 59-year-old woman who was hit by a bicycle in Central Park last week has died, her husband said Monday.

Jill Tarlov, a former 1010 Wins employee and wife of CBS executive Mike Wittman, was struck by a bicyclist on West Drive near 63rd Street on Thursday. Tarlov, a mother of two, slammed her head into the ground, causing severe trauma, authorities said.

“My wife was beautiful in every way imaginable,” Wittman said in a statement. “Jill was the most amazing mother to Matthew and Anna, who taught them above all that kindness, compassion, and a spirit for life were the right morals to live by. Everyone who had ever met her was somehow made better by her company. Even though she has been taken from us far too soon, her spirit will live on forever.”

Wittman, the senior vice president of finance at CBS, asked for privacy as his family mourns.

The 31-year-old cyclist remained on the scene and no charges were filed, police said. Speed may have been a factor in the crash, police have said.

Anton Guitano, CBS chief operating officer for local media, and Peter Dunn, CBS president, called Tarlov “a dear friend” and said they are “heartsick” over her death.

“As we mourn the loss of our friend and console Mike and his family, we are committed to doing what we can to bring greater public awareness of the perils of unsafe and distracted driving by motorists and cyclists that endangers pedestrians,” Guitano and Dunn said in a joint statement. “Far too many people have been killed or seriously injured on our streets.”