I wish to God I didn’t have to write this: On Friday, December 1, Eric Ng was riding his bike up the West Side bike path. He was on his way from a show to a party — that was Eric, always busy, always seeing people — when a fucking drunk driver ran him down. The driver had traveled at speed for over a mile on the bike path, ignoring dozens of exits, literally dozens of chances to return to the road. Dozens of choices. The car hit Eric with such force that his bike was crushed, he was thrown into the air, his tire and shoe landing fifty feet away. The horrific details are in the news, if you want them.
Eric. What can I even say? If you knew him, you know. I met Eric at NYU, four years ago. He was three years younger than me. Straight outta Jersey, a beautiful punk rock kid with a constant smile on a direct line from a big heart. A staccato laugh like a snare drum in a string section. A teddy bear with muscles. I remember his guitar, taped together & with a few screws missing, the one time we played music together: “Dude. I think we should play it faster.”
And now a phone call and a shock. Not Eric. I feel old too soon; Eric was 22 perfectly. A body full of honest energy and a face like contagious hope.
—–
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.
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 also be a memorial service after the ride at 2:30pm at St. Mark’s Church with music and a slideshow, and a party at 8pm at Time’s Up, at 49 E. Houston St.
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.
Eric’s loss is a collective one; the sheer number of people who cared deeply for him is amazing. The depth of their pain is a mirror of the joy he brought to this world. That joy remains, pushed under but still there. If you ever had it, hold it.
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I know my words are ever inadequate to express all this. Please feel free to use the comments section for memories and messages.
Update: Information on funeral services and ideas for contacting elected officials are in the comments.
Update 2:We’ve finally confirmed a full set of events for Saturday:
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 9
1PM: Memorial bike ride. Meet up in Washington Square Park at 1pm. We will ride together to the site of Eric’s death at 1:30 SHARP. Non-bikers can go directly to the West Side Greenway, near Clarkson St. By train: take the 1 to Houston St.
2:30PM: Memorial service at St. Mark’s Church. Friends & family will share stories, show photos, and play music. St. Mark’s Church is at the corner of 2nd Ave and 11th St. By train: 6 to Astor Place, R/W to 8th St, or F train to Houston St.
8PM: Memorial dance party. Do not go gently into that good night. DJs & live punk rock. At Time’s Up, 49 E. Houston St. By train: 6 or B/D/F/V to Bleecker-Lafayette.
Funeral information:
Funeral services will be conducted on Wednesday, December 6, 2006. Visitation hours at 12-2pm at the Rezem funeral home at 457 Cranbury Rd. in East Brunswick, NJ. Feel free to bring sunflowers and photos of Eric. Please arrive on time.
TRAVEL INFORMATION
To get to the funeral home from NYC, take the NE Corridor Line of New Jersey Tranist from Penn Station in NY to New Brunswick Station in New Brunswick, NJ. The trip takes approximately one hour. When you arrive in New Brunswick, exit the train station. There is a taxi stand adjacent to the train station. Any cab driver should be able to get you to the address of 457 Cranbury Rd.
I will be available to shuttle anyone traveling to the funeral from NYC from
the New Brunswick NJ Transit train station to the funeral home in East
Brunswick from 10 am to 11:30 am on Wednesday morning for free.
You can simply give me a call Weds. at:
nine.one.seven. nine.zero.three. six.seven.zero.eight.
In gratitude for having called Eric my friend,
Jason
A lot of people have been asking what they can do to help. Come to the memorial events on Saturday, and call your local elected officials. I asked Noah at Transportation Alternatives for ideas on contacting elected officials. Here’s what he sent:
In the coming weeks, T.A. will launch a study of the greenway, looking at conflicts between path users and drivers. We will need surveyors and photographers to help interview bikers and walkers on the greenway and document the intersections and driveways that cross the path. If people want to get involved they should contact Noah Budnick at projects@transalt.org.
People should call and write their City Councilmembers, the Mayor and the City Council Speaker to call on them to make the city safe for cycling.
You can look up your Councilmember at: http://www.nyccouncil.info/constituent/index.cfm
Mayor Michael Bloomberg
City Hall
New York, NY 10007
E-mail: http://www.nyc.gov/html/mail/html/mayor.html
City Council Speaker Christine Quinn
City Hall
New York, NY 10007
E-mail: http://www.nyccouncil.info/rightnow/contactspkr.cfm
Here are some sample talking points; it’s always good to mix in personal experience with these more general comments:
* People love car-free space, like the Hudson River Greenway, they flock to it, they expect it to be safe. It must be safe
* Car-free routes like the Hudson River Greenway encourage more people to bike more often. This is great for New Yorkers and great for New York City
* The Hudson River Greenway is supposed to be safe, protected, car-free space for New Yorkers to walk, jog, bike and skate
* The Hudson River Greenway is a car-free biking and walking path. It’s supposed to be one of the few refuges where New Yorkers can escape the chaos and danger of city streets
* All drivers crossing the greenway pose potential threats to people walking, biking and skating on the path
* The City and State must work to make the greenway safe and prevent future tragedies. Government must prevent motorists from driving on the greenway
* Government must work to reduce the number of cars that cross the greenway each day
* Government must make greenway intersections and driveways safer.
According to the , intersections are particularly dangerous–89% of bicyclist fatalities and 70% of bicyclist serious injury crashes in New York City occur at intersections
I did not know Eric, But my heart goes out to friends and family. I wish the penalties were much higher.
It’s always the “Good” ones that are taken from us and Eric it seems was Gold.
I will try to attend on Sat. I’m a Police Officer in New Rochelle NY.
We can spend a lot of time doing more studies about how unsafe everything is for bikes and make even more phone calls to the pols. But everyone knows. This is like all problems in NYC, they are not a mystery, Who was shocked when the Intrepid got stuck after being pushed 10 feet?
I think cyclists should shut down the West Side Highway in a mass bikeride during rush hour. The NYPD thinks Critical Mass is trouble? Show them a real cycling protest!
This is really sad. Super tragic. My cousin was friends with Eric Ng and sent me the link. I did not know him, but feel for his family and friends. First the good Doctor and now a public school teacher who was full of life.
The West side bike path is such a great idea. For those of us who have been cycling in the city since the 80’s it seemed like a dream come true. But everything needed should be done to make it safe. It seems there are some huge oversights with the planning of it. The path needs to be all the way safe, not just “safer”. This is an outrage.
Words fail…..
I had known Eric through good friends since I was at NYU, but only really got to know him personally when we hung out in October, on one of my visits back. I am so glad I had that chance.
He was super excited about his new bike, which he had painted himself. He would wear a dress shirt and tie to school not because he had to, but because that’s how seriously he took his work as a teacher. He seemed to really love it. Even though I barely knew him, I could tell his heart was so open to other people. He was easy to talk to, fun, compassionate, and up for anything. His work, his enthusiasm, his optimism and his unabated dedication the bicycle inspired me.
I was heartsick when I heard the news, filled with rage and deep sadness. But I know that Eric changed the world, because he changed my life, even in the small capacity that I knew him. I am in California, so I can’t make it to the memorial & demonstration. But I will ride hard in his honor out here, and my heart goes out to his family and those who loved him.
Though I did not know Eric Ng, I feel as though I did. Our lives shadowed one another– raised and educated in the same town and at NYU,
both residents of Northern Brooklyn, and environmental activists. I am sad and outraged that the world lost such a fervent advocate. I am
unable to attend the bike ride on Saturday, but would like to make a donation in his name to a charity that he supported. Can a friend
or family member make a suggestion? My thoughts and best wishes are with you all.
What a sad story. I never met Eric – don’t even live in NY – but he sounds like one of my kind. Condolences to the people who loved him.
I am always pained, saddened, and angered when I hear of any cyclist’s unnecessary death. There is no reason for this city to not meet other progressive citys’ environmentally friendly infrastructures. Biking in NYC everyday I see daily accidents and near accidents that are frightening and avoidable. I also see cars, trucks and NYPD vehicles IN the bike lanes, IN the crosswalks, etc., allowing cars to run red lights, etc.
It’s painful and disheartening.
I become teary and unnerved when riding by the increasing ghost bikes. I hope we will organize a massive rally and continue the pressure until MORE and SOMETHING is done.
Anyway, my heart goes out to all of those touched by this young man’s untimely and violent death.
I hope that we honor his memory and all of those others (including the hundreds and more who are hit annually)by continuing the presssure on the city government.
“STILL WE RIDE” and peace…..Eric….nameste
Ciao – you will be missed – and i never even met you.
I met Eric during this summer… chilled with him and his hometown friends one evening… Eric was bright-eyed.. very quick to laughter.. modest, considerate, and refined.. I regret having met Eric only briefly.. and extremely sad to learn of his hopes, dreams, and ambitions only after his passing.. my heart goes out to all those who loved him and love him still.
Streetsblog has video from the Eric Ng Memorial Ride — over 100 cyclists showed up honor his memory and voice their outrage over his death.
http://www.streetsblog.org/2006/12/10/streetfilms-memorial-for-eric-ng/