2007 NYC Street Memorial Ride & Walk
On Sunday, January 6th, over two hundred people gathered to remember New Yorkers who were killed while biking and walking. The Street Memorial Project lead the 3rd Annual Memorial Ride & Pedestrian Memorial Walk to honor those killed. In 2007, 23 bicyclists and over 100 pedestrians died on NYC streets.
The Streets Memorial Project is an important consciousness raising event for the City of NY. Three of us traveled from Philadelphia to NYC to attend this memorial ride for the second time. It was a powerful and moving experience and we were honored to be there. Even on as solemn an occassion as this one, it was a joy to ride with fellow bicyclists from all segments of the NYC biking community. Heartfelt thanks to both the organizers and the dozens of volunteers associated with this project and the ride. We will return for the ride in future years with the hope that they will not be necessary at some time in the not so distant future.
Ride Safely!
as someone who rode in this, and rides every day in nyc, i just wanted to say thank you for making and posting this piece.
i have started to sent it around to my contacts in other cities around the country and the world, and i hope that others will do the same.
I regret that my son and I were out of the country for this year's Memorial Ride. My husband of thirty three years, Dr. Carl Henry Nacht, was hit and killed by a NYPD tow truck while we were riding the Hudson River Greenway in June of 2006. He was honored by last year's Memorial Ride. It was very meaningful for my family and our friends to be a part of that. My daughter Zoe Kelly-Nacht participated for all of us this year and was moved and supported by this deeply meaningful way of grieving together as community. Thank you, from my heart to everyone involved in the Street's Memorial Project, for the annual rides and the presence of my husband's ghost bike.
Mary Beth Kelly
Some images from the ride:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/darko666/sets/72157603652607502/
A day that we were very glad to be a part of. Am further interested in awareness-campaigns regarding bike and pedestrian safety -- feels like there's a lot to be done.
Working on a sticker right now, an icon/graphic for the inside of a cab window that would show a biker getting doored, within the classic red-circle & line-through-it. Would like to either get the Taxi Commission to agree to put it in all cabs, or else we put em there ourselves. Thoughts?