Today was another good day for the cause. We've added support and we've been spared a tragedy.
Rob Cousins, the principal at the Ethical Culture Fieldston School, was the first contact we made, way back on May 23rd. He has been responsive and smart since the beginning. Today he came thru again by putting his head of security, David Argenzio on the team. David reiterated ECFS's support of our petition and we had a lengthy telephone call. Now I have 3 heroes: Roger, Rob, and David.
In the afternoon at about 4, I surveilled the crosswalk and shot video clips. I was interested in documenting the speed, frequency, and size of the vehicles going thru the crosswalk. The roadway was very busy with both pedestrians and vehicles and I concentrated on the vehicles passing the 10 MPH speed limit sign coming into the crosswalk focusing on heads-down bicycle racers. This was like shooting fish in a barrel.
The Central Park Loop is a racetrack and I see the same guys in pairs or groups every 30 minutes in their expensive Tour de France outfits and their cool, reflective wrap-around goggles, all racing each other for top speed. NY PD seems comfortable with it and I've got lots of clips of cop cars sauntering thru the crosswalk while bikes fly by.
At 4:31, a group of ECFS kids, all singing something together, approached the crosswalk. The teacher pressed the cross button & got the white safe-to-walk light and waited a long time for traffic to calm before starting her flock into the crosswalk. Before they were even halfway across, a bike came flying toward them.
The teacher tried to stop the bike but the cyclist swerved and continued thru while at the same time pedaling and trying to speed up. THIS IS NOT UNCOMMON. This is assault.
If you are a parent or relative of a child that attends ECFS or YMCA, I will be happy to share this video with you. The only reason I don't publish it is that it is mostly frontal footage with identifiable faces. My email address is jeromekjerome@gmail.com.
Tonight's photo is a screengrab from the video with the faces deleted.
Labor Day is the deadline. Not one day later.