Closing Bell: 5th Ave Ghost Bike in Bloom
One of the most wrenching sights in Park Slope is the ghost bike on 5th Avenue and Prospect Place, a memorial for Liz Padilla, the 28-year-old pro bono lawyer who was killed while riding her bicycle nearby in 2005. Sunflowers were recently added to the memorial, most likely because this week marks the third anniversary…
One of the most wrenching sights in Park Slope is the ghost bike on 5th Avenue and Prospect Place, a memorial for Liz Padilla, the 28-year-old pro bono lawyer who was killed while riding her bicycle nearby in 2005. Sunflowers were recently added to the memorial, most likely because this week marks the third anniversary of Padilla’s death. GMAP
I ride my bike in Brooklyn all of the time, including to work, but I know this is one of the potential hazards. She won’t be the first or unfortunately, the last.
4:57, this is an organized international program meant to call attention to the plight of cyclists everywhere. You can learn more at http://www.ghostbikes.org
5:17, I actually think they do. If you pass at night you will see the restaurant using their lights to light the ghost bike. After all, restaurants are big users of bicycles.
I would never ride my bike in Brooklyn, either–it’s just a crapshoot with the traffic. And, though I have no idea if this poor young woman did… so many bicyclists here ignore traffic lights and stop signs that they’re often a danger to themselves–and us poor pedestrians. Perhaps not the proper place to post this, but… there I go.
It is very sad. It is one of the first things I noticed when I moved here. 🙁
That restaurant must love having this right outside.
By all accounts she was a fantastic person. There is an annual running race held in her name every year in prospect park.
Here’s more info on her: Elizabeth Padilla worked as a pro bono lawyer and legal services coordinator with the Brooklyn Bar Association and was a tireless volunteer with a number of organizations. After graduating from Cornell, Ms. Padilla spurned a six-figure starting salary with a Silicon Valley law firm to do poverty law.
She worked at the Family Center in New York, providing pro bono legal services to indigent persons suffering from terminal illnesses, primarily people living with HIV-AIDS. She volunteered for Human Rights Watch, taught English as a second language to immigrant high school students, and worked in a soup kitchen run by New York Cares. A cyclist, swimmer and marathoner, as well as a personal trainer, Ms. Padilla was a member of the Achilles Club, an organization that enables people with all sorts of disabilities to participate in mainstream athletics.
It’s been 3 years. When are they going to get rid of that thing? Think about how many people have died in public places. What if a permanent memorial was put up to block the sidewalk in all those locations? It’s sad, but you have to move on and even if you can’t do the rest of us have to try and find our way around this hazard while we weave in between strollers?
That bike is why I’d never ride down the streets of brooklyn on my bike.
Very sad. Condolences to the family.