Ghost Bikes for Liz Byrne and Angel Quizphi
Posted November 29th, 2005 by rancor
In the past several weeks members of VisualResistance have installed two more Ghost Bikes. Thus far this year has witnessed 21 deaths in the NYC bicycling community. Each loss profoundly impacts friends and family, leaving an indelible mark on the community that they were just a vibrant part of. Annie Byrne wrote us from Seattle and asked if we could install a bike for her sister Liz Byrne who was killed on Sept. 23, 2005.
Here is a just a little of what Annie shared with us about her sister:
As for Lizzie, she was the ninth of 13 kids in our family (ya, I know, crazy right? Irish Catholic ; ) ). Anyway, Liz was an artist from the very beginning, and it was a huge deal when she got accepted to Cooper Union and moved from St. Louis to NYC in the late 1970’s.
After college, Liz worked professionally as a freelance designer (advertising and packaging design), but she did that just to pay the rent. Her true passion was painting and photography, and she continued to paint until her death last month. Liz was by far the most left-leaning in a pretty liberal family. Man did she ever hate George Bush. Not that that’s so uncommon of course. ; ) She moved to Greenpoint in the late 80’s and lived there ever since. Liz was also a serious cyclist, never owned a car. In fact, she was a bicycle messenger in the city during her years at Cooper Union. I’d say in the past couple of years she was riding something like 40 - 50 miles a week. To your point about the politics of this, I’m sure my sister would agree wholeheartedly in the cause of making our cities safer for people who choose alternative means of transportation. For her, cycling had a lot to do with her concern over the US’s dependance on and politically abhorrent behavior with oil producing countries. (She emailed me this summer about a bumper sticker that said “What’s our oil doing under their sand?” That makes me laugh even now.) Anyway, though I never talked with her about the Ghost Bike installations, I just know she would have loved the intent, and such a vivid form of social protest.
Liz’s death was all the more tragic as it (as almost all bicycling deaths) was preventable. The driver was actually cited in her death and an investigation is ongoing as to whether there was negligence on the part of Budget Car Rental who had several vehicles parked at and around the intersection which may have obstructed the driver’s view.
The second memorial which we installed was for Angel Quizphi, who was struck down by a drunk driver after finishing work at a Queens restaurent where he was a busboy. The driver, Yung Choe, was charged with vehicular manslaughter and driving while intoxicated. Quizphi had just days earlier proposed to Nancy Lazo who was waiting for him to come home that night.
After we install a GhostBike there is no telling how the surrounding community will respond. Jen Shao’s bike was removed almost immediately from its spot, whereas the bikes for Andrew Morgan and Liz Padilla have become a part of their community.
We all sincerely hope that as people pass by each bike they give pause–even if only for a moment.
For more info, see all Ghost Bikes.
November 29th, 2005 at 8:40 pm
If you wish to visit either of these Ghost bike locations,
Liz’s memorial is at the intersection of Kent & McGuinness in Greenpoint, Brooklyn
and Angel’s is on Northen Blvd, between Main & Prince St. on the North side of the Blvd.
December 6th, 2005 at 4:10 pm
I’ve noticed that memorials where flowers are left creates a much more personal shrine and might be less likely to be removed by the community. Where some people would see the ghost bikes alone as just a political statement, the flowers show that its much more than that. That these were human beings who are loved and daily missed. Fresh flowers remind the community there are people who accept and need the chained bicycle to communicate something. I’d encourage anyone who lives in an area where a ghost bike is located to be “keepers of the torch”.
December 6th, 2005 at 7:27 pm
Brian is definitely right. It’s been very touching to see people in the surrounding neighborhoods take care of these memorials. Brandie’s in particular is kept up pretty regularly with flowers, and Andrew’s was saved from destruction by local folks. Thanks for the suggestion.
August 30th, 2007 at 3:57 pm
i live right next to liz byrnes ghost bike. i was actually walking down my street the day she was killed. very sad. i dont know if others do but i personally check it out everyday just to make sure no one has knocked it over or that its still looking good. i didnt know liz but for the last couple years shes definitely been a nice part of my life. thank you to visualresistance for providing a great service for us to remember these amazing people and reminding us how fragile life is. keep up the good work.
August 30th, 2007 at 3:57 pm
i live right next to liz byrnes ghost bike. i was actually walking down my street the day she was killed. very sad. i dont know if others do but i personally check it out everyday just to make sure no one has knocked it over or that its still looking good. i didnt know liz but for the last couple years shes definitely been a nice part of my life. thank you to visualresistance for providing a great service for us to remember these amazing people and reminding us how fragile life is. keep up the good work.
matt
September 18th, 2007 at 11:15 am
[…] The New York City Department of Transportation will announce its anticipated new bike safety initiative at noon today in the South Plaza of Union Square. From Transportation Alternatives: Transportation Alternatives is proud to be part of New York City’s first citywide education campaign targeting cyclists and motorists, which will be officially launched later today. Developed pro bono by international advertising agency Publicis in the West (Seattle) and installed by the City of New York, the ads on bus shelters, buses, taxi tops and phone kiosks will urge drivers and cyclists to "Look" for one another and to share the road. The citywide awareness campaign was sparked by the tragic death of Liz Byrne, a city cyclist who was struck and killed by a truck in September 2005. Liz was a longtime NYC bike rider and freelancer who worked with Publicis’ NYC office. Her tragic death motivated her sister and colleagues from Publicis to contact Transportation Alternatives in October 2005 and offer their pro bono services on a massive safety and education campaign. At the same time, the newly released Bike Safety Action Plan, authored by Transportation Alternatives and the NYC Bicycle Coalition, called for several strong initiatives to improve city cycling and demanded the City: "With guidance from experienced street safety advocates, develop and implement a Public Awareness Campaign to curb dangerous driving and educate drivers about cyclists’ rights to the streets." "Look" represents a collaboration between T.A., the New York City Bicycle Coalition, the City Departments of Transportation, Health and Police, the NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission and the Office of the Public Advocate. T.A. and the NYC Bicycle Coalition continue to press the City to implement the entire Bike Safety Action Plan, including more aggressive enforcement of illegal driving and developing stronger bike lane designs. […]