Working in the studio today I’m thinking a lot about the recent loss of Devra Freelander (@devrafreelander). I didn’t know her personally, just knew of her work. Her death is tragic. As a fellow sculptor who bike commutes nearly everywhere I go, it hits close to home. I visited her memorial today on my way to the studio. When I originally read about it I knew exactly where it happened because I’ve biked down Bushwick Avenue countless times. It’s frustrating to hear the cement company claim that there are too many cyclists on the road. As an artist, and now a father, I know how invaluable it is to be able to get around the city quickly and cheaply. After seeing where she died, it was clear she was on the sidewalk because the road where she should have been riding was not safe to ride on, thanks to the cement leaked all over the road from cement trucks, likely from the same company. As much as some want to blame her death on her entering the intersection , it’s possible she would have been more visible to the truck driver had she been able to bike with traffic safely. The roads are not built with cyclists in mind, they are not maintained for us. I’ve been thrown over my handlebars by potholes that cars can ignore (and when lying in the road people just drove around me). The perspective from a bicycle is very different than from inside of a car, and I suspect it’s a view that the city government and the NYPD don’t see the world from much. Last year 10 cyclists died in NYC all year. This year we’re already at 15. Everyone be careful, watch out for each other. Images: 1. My studio today 2. The cement covered part of the intersection where a cyclist would normally be expected to ride 3. Devra’s memorial (at Greenpoint, Brooklyn) https://www.instagram.com/p/BzoVvQilnMO/?igshid=kbeqdqf0h7k2
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