Help Us Build 25 Ghost Bikes: NYC Street Memorial Project

Help Us Build 25 Ghost Bikes

About the NYC Street Memorial Project or the NYC Ghost Bike Project.

Ghost Bikes are small somber memorials for bicyclists who have been killed on the street. A bicycle is painted all white and locked to a street sign near the crash site, accompanied by a small plaque. They serve as reminders of the tragedy that took place on an otherwise anonymous street corner, as quiet statements in support of cyclists' right to safe travel and as a call to prevent these tragedies from occurring.

The New York City Ghost Bike Project began in 2007, with the goal of drawing attention to the growing number of bike riders killed on the city streets in the form of political street art. Since then, we have put up hundreds of Ghost Bikes/Street Memorials. We are devastated by the number of cyclists killed in the past year in these preventable tragedies.

Now, we need help to pay for 25 new Ghost Bikes. It cost about $60 for sandpaper, primer, paint, lock, chain, bike tools, nuts and bolts and other supplies including the Plaque that goes up with each dedication. We are currently in need of building and placing over twenty-five bikes from the deadly crashes of the previous year. And, sadly, we can anticipate that kind of need in the upcoming years as well.

We are also inviting a few volunteers:

• to secure the needed supplies so we can purchase in bulk.

• collect donated bikes and hold at our work location.

• plan two prep workdays.

Do you want to help in person? Check out our Facebook page for volunteer work dates and locations. https://www.facebook.com/NYCGhostBikes

Why do we do this.

Bicycles are good for New York. In a city plagued by congestion, asthma, and smog, with an unreliable transit network and rising transportation costs, bicycles are a cure-all. It is a highly affordable, environmentally friendly, hyper-efficient way to get around.

When a person is killed on a bicycle, all these benefits are negated. These fatalities are completely preventable. We hope that bicycling becomes an option for more New Yorkers and make it clear that no person killed in a preventable traffic crash will be forgotten.

Would you consider a monetary contribution so we can continue our plans to have two full workdays and catch up on most of what we would like to accomplish by year-end?