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BROOKLYN WEEKLY, MARCH 8, 2020
FOOTING THE BILL
Activists leave shoes outside de Blasio’s Park Slope gym
BY BEN VERDE
Transportation advocates lined the
sidewalk outside of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s
go-to YMCA branch in Park Slope with
an row of empty shoes, hoping the scene
would call Hizzoner’s attention to the 22
pedestrians killed by drivers in the city
since New Years.
At least, that was the plan — another
pedestrian was killed in Queens during
the early hours Monday morning, bringing
the number of fatalities up to 23, and
leaving the activists short one pair of
shoes.
“We should not accept any more traffi c
fatalities this year or ever,” the advocates
wrote on Twitter. “Would we really say
that if we ended this year at ‘only’ 22 dead
New Yorkers that would be a success?”
The display, which was installed outside
the Ninth Street gym early Monday
morning, featured quotes from the mayor
himself that read “Our society can’t prioritize
our cars over our children.”
The scourge of traffi c-related fatalities
comes on the heels of a particularly deadly
2019, when motorists killed 124 pedestrians
and 28 cyclists — marking the fi rst
time that traffi c fatalities had increased
since de Blasio took offi ce in 2013.