Cyclist’s death in Chelsea is city’s 12th this year
BY GABE HERMAN
A bicycle messenger died in
Chelsea on Monday morning
after being hit by a truck on
Sixth Ave., just north of W. 23rd St.
The messenger, 20-year-old Robyn
Hightman, was found by police laying
on the street, unconscious and unresponsive,
with head trauma.
An E.M.S. ambulance transported
Hightman to Bellevue Hospital, where
the young cyclist was pronounced
dead.
A Virginia native, Hightman reportedly
preferred to identify by the
pronouns “they/them.”
She was hit by a white Freightliner
delivery truck, according to police.
The truck initially left the scene but
then returned.
The driver, 54-year-old Antonio
Garcia, reportedly said he did not
know he had hit someone until several
blocks later when he was told by
a witness.
“I’m driving no more than 20
miles per hour, no down to 15,”
he told CBS, of his speed. “I don’t
see nothing. The passenger told me,
‘Somebody hit you in the back.’”
The driver was issued fi ve summonses
at the scene, for equipment
violations related to the truck that
were unrelated to the incident.
Police said Hightman and the truck
were both traveling uptown on Sixth
Ave. when they collided. Witnesses
said Hightman was riding outside
the bike lane when the incident occurred.
It is fairly common for riders to go
outside of the bike lane briefl y at that
intersection, to avoid large crowds
and congestion, according to fellow
bike messenger Mike Pach, who was
at a memorial for Hightman near the
intersection on Monday afternoon.
“The bike lane becomes untenable
even a block away,” said Pach, who
has been a messenger for three years.
He said it’s usually easier to ride with
the cars until getting midway up the
next block, between W. 23rd and
24th Sts.
Monday afternoon, several cyclists
could be seen doing what Pach described,
veering out into car lanes
near the intersection to avoid heavy
pedestrian traffi c and slower bicycles,
and then turning back into the bike
lane midway up the block.
Hightman made deliveries around
the city for Capsule. Monday was her
fi rst day also working for Samurai,
a company that Pach said only hires
very good bike messengers.
Pach called Hightman “a total
sweetheart” who was involved with
the cycling organization Spin Peaks,
including participating in its Gold
Sprint fundraising races.
Hightman was also an ambassador
Robyn Hightman died on Monday after being hit by a truck on Sixth Ave.
in Chelsea.
Part of the memorial to Robyn Hightman included a piece of cardboard
with messages written for the young cyclist.
for the women’s cycling team Hagens
Berman-Supermint, which posted a
tribute to her on Instagram. The post
shared some of Hightman’s application
to join the group, and called it
“the most passionate, in-depth one
we’ve received out of hundreds.”
“As a homeless youth deeply entrenched
in the trappings of poverty
COURTESY INSTAGRAM-“SUPERMINTUSA”
PHOTO BY GABE HERMAN
and parental abuse and neglect,”
Hightman wrote, in part, on the application,
“my fi rst bicycle offered a
way to seek respite from the horrors
of my surroundings and human experience,
if only for a few glorious minutes.
My bicycle established a sense of
independence, strengthened my ability
to be self suffi cient, and provided
me with the confi dence necessary to
advocate for myself, my rights, and
my needs in public space.”
Hightman continued, “Eventually,
my bicycle allowed me to provide for
myself when I began working a full
time job at the age of fourteen. My bicycle
provided me with the socioeconomic
mobility necessary to escape.
My bicycle saved my life.”
By Monday afternoon, a memorial
had been posted on Sixth Ave. just
north of 23rd St., including fl owers
and tributes written on a piece of
cardboard.
A vigil was held there on Monday
evening, which drew hundreds
of mourners. Twelve cyclists have
now died through about six months
of 2019 on New York City’s streets,
compared to 10 deaths in all of 2018.
Pach said the city should have a
more complete bike lane infrastructure,
but right now just installs them
“willy-nilly,” in some places and not
others.
And he said it would help for police
to do better enforcement for the
bike lanes, such as keeping cars out of
both them and the buffer areas beside
them, where a car door could open
and smash into a cyclist.
Pach said police focus too much on
ticketing cyclists, and that he recently
got a ticket for not having a refl ector.
The day after Hightman’s death,
police were reportedly ticketing cyclists
near the intersection. City
Council Speaker Corey Johnson, who
represents Chelsea, responded on
Twitter, “I am disturbed by reports of
a NYPD crackdown on cyclists near
the intersection where cyclist Robyn
Hightman was killed yesterday by
traffi c violence. Trucks and cars are
the cause of the overwhelming number
of traffi c fatalities in our city.”
Johnson added in another post,
“Robyn’s death is a tragedy and so
is the number of cyclist deaths so far
this year. Let’s get serious about making
our streets safer for everyone.”
Pach said of Hightman’s cycling during
the tragic incident, “This wasn’t
luxury, she was doing her job.”
He added that this incident in the
wake of the city’s mounting numbers
of cycling deaths is overwhelming.
“This year I’m starting to get
numb,” he said. “It’s hard to be constantly
outraged.”
Schneps Media CNW June 27, 2019 3