I'm a native NYer to and used to ride through Midtown before there was a Greenway and while there were threats like aggressive motorists and pedestrians then as well it certainly has gotten much worse. I never saw that many cyclists on the road like you have now, back then (20 years ago) it was just some roadies on their way to the Central Park, bike messengers, and delivery guys. The last time I attempted using a bike lane I was on one for 5 minutes before I wanted to get off due to the wrong way cyclists and pedestrians that made riding unpleasant. I consider myself lucky that we have the Greenway because on my commute to work I only have to ride in NYC traffic briefly; I've lost my patience for all of the nonsense.