December 5, 2006
Memorial Ride for Eric Ng This Saturday
There's information about a memorial ride for Eric Ng, the 22 year old bicyclist who was killed by a drunk driver driving on the Hudson River bike path. Ng, a recent NYU graduate, lived in Brooklyn and was in the NYC Teaching Fellows program. Here's an excerpt from a sad post by Eliot at Visual Resistance:
I’ve been making ghost bikes for strangers for a year and a half. Eric’s is not the first that made me cry, but it’s the first that made me hurt. A big group of Eric’s friends spent the weekend mourning, talking, and, finally, making. We made a ghost bike for him on Saturday and sunflowers on Sunday. Eric’s memorial plaque reads “Love & Rage” — no resting in peace for this rock star.Ng's funeral is tomorrow in East Brunswick, NJ; here's further information.We are planning for a memorial ride this Saturday, December 9th, meeting at 1pm in Washington Square Park and then proceeding to the site of Eric’s death. Non-bikers can head straight to the site, on the West Side bike path near Clarkson St. Please bring flowers (especially sunflowers), sidewalk chalk, paint, whatever you want. There will be a memorial service after the ride with music and a slideshow, and a party later that night. Check back here for further details; we’ll update this post as soon as we can.
Thank you to everyone who has been e-mailing and to those strangers who have already placed signs and flowers at the site. Thank you for your kindness and your anger both. A lot of people have been talking about pressing for physical barriers against cars on the bike path and other infrastructure improvements to help prevent future deaths. This is a great idea, and people should not hesitate to contact local elected officials, and get in touch with Time’s Up and Transportation Alternatives, who I know already are working along those lines.
The driver, Eugenio Cidron, was charged with vehicular manslaughter after driving on the bike path for over a mile; he had been celebrating at a holiday party at Chelsea Piers.
Photograph from visual resistance
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I'll be there on Saturday.
I'll be there.
my thoughts and condolences to the family.
please wear your helmets and follow the traffic laws so that the cops will have no excuses.
and if you can't make it, please consider giving whatever you can to organizations that someone like ng might support...teaching groups, biking organization, etc. this is a terrible tragedy.
Does anyone know if Eric's family have requested donations go anywhere specifically? I was thinking Times Up, but maybe there is a memorial fund somewhere?
ever see that movie "AKIRA"? we should be like that clown gang on bikes and smash windshields with bats and throw grenades into them. That would be FUCKIN AWESOME!!!
by joker's comment, i can see that anachists have taken over the once-peaceful eric ng memorial ride, and the nypd must come out in full force to put down the protests
Why is that, mr. cop?
You think there's going to be a missing "gun" or "fourth" gunman found in the ride?
You guys really do hate Bicyclists, don't you?
Thanks Jen for posting this. And thanks to everyone looking for ways to help. Please pass this information on far and wide. More events are being planned for Saturday as well. I will post updates as soon as I can.
Why isn't the driver allowed to be charged with murder? Vehciular manslaughter: he gets a misdemeanor while someone else loses his life. Justice doesn't seem so just, does it.
Why isn't the driver allowed to be charged with murder? Vehciular manslaughter: he gets a misdemeanor while someone else loses his life. Justice doesn't seem so just, does it.
Vehicular manslaughter's a felony.
I can almost see how a driver unfamiliar with the area could turn onto the bike path drive on it for some distance, thinking it's an exit route from Chelsea Piers. Signage isn't as clear as it should be. This won't effect Cidron's criminal liability as he was intoxicated. It may, however, be a factor in the lawsuit that's sure to be filed against the city, Chelsea Piers, and Cidron's employer (IIRC FedEx/Kinko's).
Peter,
How is FedEx/Kinko's responsible for this? Explain, please.
It was the holiday company party Cidron came out of. I know when we had our holiday party, the company provided car service for EVERYONE leaving the party.
I don't recall if Cidron worked for kinko's, I thought I'd read it was Canon Imaging.
Umm... even if the guy got confused leaving Chelsea Piers and found himself on the bike path (pretty difficult to do sober since there's a pylon there, but I digress) he was still DOING A HEALTHY ENOUGH CLIP TO NOT ONLY INSTANTLY KILL THIS KID BUT TO THROW HIS BODY FIFTY FEET AWAY, so fast that he DIDN'T HAVE TIME TO THINK OF ANYTHING BUT "OH SHIT."
Didn't mean to unload on you, Peter, but... please. Confusion isn't what killed this kid. An asshole who was only thinking of himself and didn't give a rat's ass about anyone else killed this kid.
I'll be there Saturday too, but after I take my medication.
I am totally with you Tim N.
I believe he is the manager of a Canon copy center or something.
Partie, its nice that your company provided car services, but I have never worked for a place that have done that, and I have worked for a lot of places and attended a lot of holiday parties. He should have taken a cab like everyone else or got a ride home. The employer can't be blamed. However, I wonder if the bartenders/servers at the party will be held accountable for serving him too much? When I bartend I alway have to cut people off because me and my bar can be held liable if they get hurt when they leave.