Families for Safe Streets and Transportation Alternatives Members Install White Ghost Strollers At City Hall, Demand Immediate Action from Mayor to Save Lives on #deBlasiosStreets
NEW YORK — This morning, Families for Safe Streets and Transportation Alternatives members installed white ghost strollers outside City Hall, demanding immediate action from Mayor de Blasio to save lives on the streets he controls. This action comes after a weekend of traffic violence killed at least six New Yorkers, including a 3-month-old baby girl in a stroller on a Clinton Hill sidewalk, and before a large citywide #SafeStreets4Strollers protest tonight at Union Square.
“For years, New Yorkers have put their grief into action and installed white ghost bikes across the city to memorialize cyclists killed by traffic violence. Today, for the first time, we are bringing ghost strollers directly to City Hall to demand that Mayor de Blasio take immediate action to restore the promise of Vision Zero and reclaim our streets from deadly cars,” said Danny Harris, Executive Director of Transportation Alternatives. “After this weekend’s crash that killed three-month-old Apolline Mong-Guillemin, and another 1,800 other lives lost to traffic violence during his tenure, Mayor de Blasio is trying to shift attention to what Albany can do, instead of what he — the person who controls our streets — will do immediately to save lives. We demand solutions that fast-track redesigns of our streets for safety, not for drivers’ convenience or the preservation of free parking. No more statements. No more task forces to nowhere. We demand immediate action now and hope that New Yorkers will unite in their anger and join us tonight in Union Square as we come together to make these demands.”
“We send our condolences to the family of Apolline Mong-Guillemin. Families for Safe Streets members know first hand what it is like to lose a loved one to traffic violence. But the pain of a parent witnessing the violent death of their three-month-old child while on the sidewalk in a stroller is something difficult for many of us to fathom. Mayor de Blasio must take action now to prevent future tragedies from happening. We fought hard to get Vision Zero started back in 2014 and Mayor de Blasio must restore the promise of this life-saving initiative without any more delays,” said Devan Sipher, member of Families for Safe Streets.
