April Damani Reign Memorial Fund

This memorial fund is dedicated to celebrating the life and family of April Damani Reign (April 16, 1989 - February 4, 2022).

 

This memorial fund will go towards supporting funeral costs, to establishing a scholarship fund for her daughter, Samantha, and toward her care. In addition, the family will put funds towards advocating for "Reign's Law" to hold city government accountable to making use of and accelerating programs to protect pedestrians and cyclists from motor vehicle accidents, particularly city-owned or contracted vehicles and operators who are involved in incidents resulting in the injury or lost lives of hard-working New Yorkers.

 

For those who did not know April, please see details of her tragic loss here: Streetsblog Coverage and The Daily News 

 

 

"I will not be another flower, picked for my beauty and left to wilt. I will be wild, difficult to find and impossible to forget."

 

"Honor the friendships that allow you to pick up where you last left off, regardless of how long it's been since you connected. The friendships that survive hiatuses, silences, and spaces. These are the connections that never die."

 

April leaves behind a young daughter whom she dreamed of one day opening an animal shelter with, loving sisters, mother, brother, niece and nephew. She is remembered as a "ray of sunshine" in the community and is honored by many neighbors and friends as a true fixture and spirit of hope in their lives.

 

Statement from Transportation Alternatives Deputy Director Marco Conner DiAquoi:

 

“Once again we are shaken by devastating, deadly traffic violence in New York City – especially in Brooklyn. Our hearts go out to the families of April Reign, Jack Mikulincer, and the others who were killed and injured by cars on dangerous streets this weekend.”

 

“What is most upsetting is that these deaths could have been prevented. April Reign was killed on a street with no protected bike lane, at an intersection previously identified by the City of New York as in the top four percent of deadliest intersections in Brooklyn. Jack Mikulincer was killed by the driver of a vehicle that had racked up multiple red-light camera violations, and ten tickets from speeding past school zone speed safety cameras — including five in 2021. Under the initial Reckless Driver Accountability Act drafted by former Council Member Brad Lander, this vehicle could have been taken off our streets. However, the former mayor watered-down this proposal — and renamed it the Dangerous Vehicle Abatement Program (DVAP) — and this car remained on the roads.”

 

“We need solutions to save lives now. These solutions start on the local level with action by Mayor Adams and the City Council. The DVAP must be strengthened. Vision Zero also needs an urgent investment to expand the tools that work. We are encouraged by Mayor Adams and Commissioner Rodriguez’s commitments to redesign 1,000 intersections for safety and upgrade protected bike lanes. These changes must be fast-tracked. We also need to advance work on the NYC Streets Plan and fund it fully so the benefits of safe streets come to every corner of our city. This goes hand in hand with our NYC 25x25 vision to reclaim space from cars for the sake of our health, economy, and safety.”