BY KEVIN DUGGAN
Mayor-elect Eric Adams
wants the city to plant a memorial
grove dedicated to victims
of traffi c violence, a senior rep
announced at a Sunday event
honoring the roughly 1,800 people
who died on New York City
streets under the eight-year tenure
of outgoing Mayor Bill de
Blasio.
“We must do more to honor
the victims and their loved ones
of traffi c crashes,” said Ryan
Lynch, Adams’ chief of staff
as Brooklyn Borough President.
“Upon assuming offi ce,
the mayor-elect will direct the
Department of Parks and Recreation
to establish a tree memorial
remembrance grove to
create a sanctuary for families
of those who have lost loved
ones as well as to never forget
their memories.”
Families of victims of traffi
c violence gathered Sunday
afternoon, Nov. 21, to mourn
the deaths of their lost loved
ones. The event was organized
by Families for Safe Streets and
Transportation Alternatives as
part of a international World
Day of Remembrance to pay
tribute to straffi c victims.
They placed 1,800 pots with
the names of each victim on the
steps of Borough Hall, marking
both a memorial and a sense of
hope for a better future, according
to one advocate.
“They represent a painful,
horrifying reminder of the past
eight years. But they also represent
COURIER L 24 IFE, NOV. 26-DEC. 2, 2021
our vivid hope for a future
that is full of life and light, healing
and remembering dignity
and optimism,” said Rita Barravecchio,
whose niece Madeline
Sershen was killed at age 17
in Whitestone, Queens, in 2018.
Family members and politicians
read out the names of
people who died this year, as
the city has seen a rise in fatalitiesin
2021 on pace to be higher
than any other year since de
Blasio took offi ce in 2014 and instituted
Vision Zero.
“Time after time the administration
caved whenever
faced with pushback on proven
safety measures,” decried Barravecchio,
who is also part
of Families for Safe Streets.
“Eight years later, we have the
gruesome consequence 1,800
humans killed on the streets of
New York.”
Senate Majority Leader
Chuck Schumer briefl y joined
to pledge his support, saying
funds from the recently-enacted
$1.2 billion Bipartisan Infrastructure
Framework could
be used to address street safety.
“I worked very hard as Majority
Leader to get $10 billion
dollars in The BIF bill, $5 billion
for transportation alternatives
and $5 billion for safe
streets for all,” Schumer said.
“I will work with all of you...
on how to spend this money are
done the right way, the effective
way to save the most lives possible,
that’s my commitment and
promise to everybody here.”
Survivors spoke through
tears as they held up portraits
of their lost loved ones, such as
Marcia Landais, whose 12-yearold
daughter Joie Sellers was fatally
struck by a hit-and-run
driver in Flatlands in 2014.
“She was loved. She was a
stellar student, a disciplined
performer, a loving daughter,
someone’s best friends,” said
Landais. “She was more than
someone. She was someone unforgettable.”
One man recalled the death
of his father Jeffrey Williamson,
71, who was hit by a postal
truck driver in June.
“I’ve been a paramedic in
the City of New York for 15
years and my blood is red with
people I’ve seen crushed and
killed over the years,” said Bennett
Williamson. “I just never
expected to have to pull the tube
out of my own father’s body in
St. Luke’s on that day.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck
Schumer spoke at the rally.
Photo by Kevin Duggan
Family members and safe street advocates set up a pot with a name and
age for each of the 1,800 people who died in traffi c during the eight-year
tenure of Mayor Bill de Blasio. Photo by Kevin Duggan
‘A horrifying reminder’
Vigil mourns traffi c deaths, Adams wants ‘memorial grove’
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