The Ghost Bikes
Joshua David Stein, who I used to work with at Gridskipper, just wrote an excellent piece on ghost bikes for New York mag.
For non-NYCers, ghost bikes are stripped-down bicycles, spraypainted white, that are chained to sign posts or streetlights at the sights of fatal bike accidents. They are put up and maintained by this group.
There is one of them around the corner from my house. It’s dedicated to Craig Murphey, a Brooklyn resident who was side-swiped by a truck on a Saturday morning around 4am.
I also happened to know Craig. Not well, but he is someone I ran into a few times and shared mutual friends with. “Head-nodding basis,” as they say. Williamsburg can be a small town like that. We both shared a taste for internet tomfoolery and loud, blaring music. He was a good guy - he worked at a homeless shelter and organized late-night safe rides for unaccompanied women, among other things. A good guy.
And now there’s a bike on the corner where he died.
