Thursday, December 21, 2006

Call for submissions to the Bicycle Film Festival 2007

Here is a message from Brent Barbur of the 2007 NYC Bicycle Film Festival:

"Hi All

Bike Film Fest 2006 was amazing!!
Thank you to everyone who attended, all the filmmakers, artists, our
sponsors, and everyone who helped out.

BFF 2007 will be amazing.

We are now accepting film, video submissions.
Deadline for entries is February 17th 2007.
Go to the site for info and entry form:
bicycle film festival

Download the "CALL FOR ENTRIES"
poster and hang it around your local area.
Call for Entries

Come visit us for the NYC BFF. It should be a lot of fun.
The dates will be posted in early February.

Thanks
Brendt Barbur

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Upcoming Alleycats

Check NYBMA for results from Cranksgiving NYC.



last year was the first Alleycat designed for beginners, this year all are welcome for a NYC New Year's eve race.

You'll be done with plenty of time for New Years festivities...like going on the Time's Up New Years Ride!!

more details on the race are coming.

There is an alleycat race in Cleveland Ohio

Diablo is at it again...unleashed on the street with his Fetish fix and video camera...promoting the slickest alleycat of all...

MonsterTrack 8...February 17th 2007.

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Villager article and Memorial Ride Annoucement


Jefferson Siegel wrote this article in the villager about the recent memorial ride for Eric Ng, killed on the Westside Highway by a drunk driver.

Caption under the photo:

Eric Ng’s friends grieve as they listen to remembrances of him near a white ghost bike memorial left for him on the Hudson River Park bike path at Clarkson St., above. A friend lingers at the ghost bike memorial as the others start to head over to St. Mark’s Church for another memorial for Ng.

article-(TITLE) Love and rage at memorial for cyclist slain on path

By Jefferson Siegel

"Eric Ng, the 22-year-old cyclist killed by a drunken driver on Dec. 1 on the Hudson River Park bike path, was remembered by family and friends in a day of memorials last Saturday.

The group Visual Resistance had placed a white “ghost bike” near the spot where Ng was struck, along the greenway at Clarkson St. Early Saturday afternoon, as cyclists gathered in Washington Square Park for a memorial ride, several dozen others already had congregated alongside the bike path, where flowers adorned the stark white cycle. A woman walking by stopped to snap a photo of the all-white bike on her cell phone. A female jogger slowed and then stopped when she realized why the crowd had gathered. She paused, hung her head and crossed herself before resuming her jog uptown, the spring in her step noticeably a bit less.

Maya Elise Joseph-Goteiner stood quietly holding a bouquet of flowers, her eyes red, her face disconsolate. Joseph-Goteiner said she went to school with Ng for four years, and together they were members in the Peace Coalition. Nearby, a man in a green jacket, his jaw clenched, held a bunch of flowers close to his chest.

Just before 2 p.m., a mass of 150 cyclists coming from Washington Square pedaled down Greenwich St., turned right onto Houston St., crossed the West Side Highway and rode onto the bike route, where Park Enforcement Patrol officers politely directed them into the lot in front of Pier 40. Riders dismounted, many carrying flowers, and walked to the bike path in silence.

Ryan Kuonen of Time’s Up!, who has had the unfortunate task of organizing too many memorial rides, was one of the first to approach yet another ghost bike and place a flower in the spokes of the rear wheel. Nearby, Noah Budnick of Transportation Alternatives, who suffered a serious head injury last year on a poorly maintained bridge bike path, stood quietly in the midst of the crowd, wearing a Brooklyn cycling hat.

Several neighborhood leaders and activists also paid their respects. Brad Hoylman, chairperson of the Community Board 2 Traffic and Transportation Committee, and Keen Berger, a member of the committee, stood with cyclists in Washington Square Park before the ride. Ian Dutton, a public member of the C.B. 2 Traffic and Transportation Committee, and Livvie Mann, president of the Bedford-Downing Block Association, rode with the mass to the ghost bike.

Alone and in pairs, several cyclists paused in front of the bike and laid flowers, placed stones and said silent goodbyes.

Someone played a brief trumpet solo. Then, Ng’s friend Ryan Nuckle stepped onto the low wall by the ghost bike. Recalling memories of Ng, Nuckle paused occasionally, overcome with grief. Facing him was a clutch of Ng’s friends, their arms around each other, some crying inconsolably. A gloved hand covered a face red from crying. In the bright December sun, an overwhelming sense of grief and loss filled the air.

Nuckle finished his brief remarks and stepped down to join Ng’s friends. One friend then let out a bone-chilling scream, a cathartic cry, a wail lamenting the injustice of such an untimely loss, as if she could yell all the way to the heavens to let Eric Ng know how much he will be missed.

Then she joined her two friends in singing a lullaby, “Sleep, Baby, Sleep,” and more people in the crowd buried heads in hands and on shoulders, many of them sobbing.

People then lined up to lay flowers and say farewell as others hugged, eyes tightly closed and hands clenched. Despite the six lanes of rushing traffic just steps away, a silence seemed to shroud the gathering.

Before long the ghost bike was festooned with colorful flora. Friends had also planted brightly painted yellow wooden sunflowers around the bike so that, whatever the season, it will always resonate with life.

The cyclists then returned to their rides for one final tribute. In a symbolic gesture that has become painfully frequent the past few years, the mourners quietly held their bicycles over their heads for a minute. Then they got back on their seats and pedaled across the highway.

Their next stop was a memorial service at St. Mark’s Church in the East Village. Several hundred people sat in a circle of chairs, watching as photos and videos of Ng played on a screen overhead, accompanied by tapes of his singing. Friends then stood, one by one, and shared their fondest memories. Some read e-mails Ng had sent over the years. One read some of Ng’s favorite Richard Brautigan poems.

The day conculded with a dance at the Time’s Up! space on E. Houston St. Dancing, as Nuckle explained, because Ng would have liked it. Fierce dancing, reflecting the epitaph attached to Ng’s ghost bike: “Love and Rage.”
-=------------------=-=-------------
In honor of Eric and other cyclists killed in 2006 at the hand of motor vehicles...TIme's Up will be hosting its 2nd annual memorial ride on January 7th. The details are not finalized yet but check back here soon. This ride travels in mass to several sites where cyclists were killed.


Memorial ride for slain cyclists of 2006 will be held January 7th.

Sunday, December 17, 2006

Santacon photos


This was by far the largest santacon participation I have seen in the 6 or 7 years I've been involved in this great event. In Central Park around 3:00pm, there had to be close to 400 santas...and a few dreidels and menorahs and of course the chanukah chicken and frosty. One guy was a naughty rudolph with a sign that read...free ride for Mrs Claus. Here are some photos at flickr

Friday, December 15, 2006

Video of Eric Ng memorial ride

Tomorrow is Santacon


This is not bike related...but fun as hell and a great way to deal with the gross commericalization of Christ's Birthday.

Its like a bar crawl with hundreds of Santa's.

Santacon : Saturday : 10am through Sunday

Tis' the season of the roving riot of red that is
SantaCon. The blurry memories from last year's Santacon
include: horrified tourists, whiskey, Santa-packed dance
floors, whiskey, jolly strip shows, red train parties,
whiskey, mass Christmas/Kwanza/Chanukah carols,
pornaments, whiskey and whiskey. This participatory event
*isn't* for the faint of heart, nor the weak of liver.

*It is* the best way to annihilate/celebrate the
insanity of the holiday season in a non-political but
explicitly provocative manner. It's also the most fun
you can have with a beard.

For details look to:

Bike rider injured in Central Park.

In central park:

Central Park bike rider in serious condition
Police: victim hit by a car Wednesday evening
Eyewitness News
(Central Park-WABC, December 14, 2006) - A bike rider is clinging to
life this morning after a terrible crash in Central Park.

Police say this all happened when the woman was hit by a car last
night around 6:30 p.m.
The crash shut down the 66th Street Transverse until around midnight.

Doctors at New York Hospital say the woman has serious head injuries.

Eyewitness News is told the driver of the car pulled over. Police say
there was no criminal act, and no charges will be filed.

Friday, December 08, 2006

Memorial activities for tomorrow

Memorial Activities for the recent killing of cyclist Eric Ng.

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 9

1PM: Memorial bike ride for Eric Ng, 22 year-old bicyclist, teacher,
and friend who was killed by a drunk driver on the West Side bike
path. Meet up in Washington Square Park at 1pm. We will ride
together to the site of Eric's death at 1:30 SHARP. Non-bikers can go
directly to the West Side Greenway, near Clarkson St. By train: take
the 1 to Houston St.

2:30PM: Directly after the memorial ride there will be a memorial
service at St. Mark's Church. Friends & family will share stories,
show photos, and play music. St. Mark's Church is at the corner of
2nd Ave and 11th St. By train: 6 to Astor Place, R/W to 8th St, or F
train to Houston St.

8PM: Memorial dance party. Do not go gently into that good night.
DJs & live punk rock. At Time's Up, 49 E. Houston St. By train: 6 or
B/D/F/V to Bleecker-Lafayette.

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Dummer shirts for sale


So I got a bunch of these Dummer shirts that I made and wanted to sell off the stock. They make great gifts for that special someone.

I have other styles and colors available that aren't on the site...yet. They are $20.00 plus $4.05 for 2 day priority shipping.

please go to dummer and make orders...or contact me at mgreen@dummer.org to find out what else I have.

Thanks MG

Monday, December 04, 2006

Tragedy strikes again on bike path...memorial ride planned.


Time's Up volunteer, Eric Ng was killed on the west side highway on Friday, November 30th. Killed by a drunk driver who rode on the greenway for over a mile.

Eric's myspace page

here is a link to an article from Gothamist.

here is a link to an article form the NYTimes


article form Newsday

Article from AMNY

Cyclist fatally struck on bike path mourned

By Justin Rocket Silverman

December 4, 2006


Friends of Eric Ng began planning a memorial Sunday on the West Side Highway bike path where the 22-year-old was killed Friday night by an alleged drunken driver.

"This is the only place in Manhattan where you are supposed to be completely safe from cars," said Barbara Ross, a volunteer with bicycle advocacy group Times Up! "We want to make sure the city is doing everything it can to keep cars out of the bike lanes."

Ng was headed to a party in the East Village around 9:45 p.m. Friday when he was struck by a silver BMW driven by Eugenio Cidron, 27, who was leaving a holiday party at Chelsea Piers.

Instead of turning south onto the West Side Highway, Cidron turned onto the bike path, police said. He drove for more than a mile before hitting Ng near the intersection of Houston Street, police said.

Cidron was charged with drunken driving and manslaughter.

Ng, a Brooklyn math teacher, had recently graduated from New York University.

He is the second cyclist to die this year on the West Side Highway's bike path. On June 23, an NYPD tow truck struck and killed Dr. Carl Nacht, 56.

Copyright 2006 Newsday Inc.
------------------------------

This year is ending really shitty. First Brad Will is killed, then the senseless shooting of Sean Bell and now this.

There will be a memorial ride this Saturday. (12/9/06)

"We're going to set the memorial ride for Saturday afternoon. We'd
like to meet at Washington Square Park at 1pm, then head to the site
at 1:30 or so. We've been making art for the site all day today and
have some really nice work.

After the ride we want to have a memorial service somewhere nearby so
that people can talk, have a slideshow, etc. We'd like to aim for a
3pm or 4pm event at Bluestockings or St. Marks or somewhere like that.
People were also interested in having an evening dance party, since a
good party is pretty clearly what Eric would have wanted!"