the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, A village of Ridgewood native and emerging artist becomes the third cyclist killed on New York City’s streets in the past week, and the 15th struck and killed this year.
NYC Police have identified and confirmed Devra Freelander, 28, as the victim. Living less than a mile from the where the crash occurred at the intersection of Boerum Street and Bushwick Avenue, in Brooklyn .
Freelander,originally from Ridgewood, according to the NY Daily News was a sculptor , a graduate of Oberlin College in Ohio and earned a master’s degree from the Rhode Island School of Design. Her sculptures have been displayed most notable in Times Square and at Socrates Sculpture Park in Queens.
The crash occurred on Monday early afternoon at about 12:18 p.m. Freelander suffered severe head and body trauma and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Freelander was the third cyclist killed on New York City’s streets in the past week, and the 15th to lose their lives this year, renewing calls from activists for safer policies from the city.
The NYPD’s Collision Investigation Squad is continuing their investigation.
According to Nassim N. Taleb, author of Black Swan, the guy who predicted and cashed in big on the 2008 financial crash, he wrote that bikes belong totally away from any traffic. In the book, Antifragile, Taleb describes the risks he will not take, calling them the obvious risks, like bike riding in traffic and smoking. But HEY, the council who approved those bike lanes under the trestle and the couple who spoke at the town council meeting asking for the bike lanes and wanting more bike lanes on Ridgewood’s narrow roads , sited NY city as an example of safe biking in a city.
Very sad. Condolences to the family.