MEDIA ADVISORY
Contacts: Barbara Ross 917.494.8164, press@times-up.org
Benjamin Shepard 917 586 7952
“Day of the Dead” ride
Sunday, November 2nd at 2:00 p.m.
Ride begins in front of the Cemetery at 74 East Second Street
(between First and Second Ave), East Village
**Excellent visuals**
NEW YORK, NY (October 29, 2008) – On November 2, 2008, cyclists dressed as skeletons will bike and dance their way through downtown Manhattan on the “Day of the Dead” ride. Riders will visit ghost bikes, honor the memory of cyclists who have been killed, and demand safer streets so that present and future riders can ride without fear. Participants will also stage mini-funerals along the ride route to remember cyclists killed by motor vehicles, including Rasha Shamoon, a cyclist who was struck by an SUV at Delancey and Bowery on August 11, 2008 and died six days later.
The ride, organized by the environmental group, Time’s Up!, is based on the “Day of the Dead” holiday, which originated in Mexico to celebrate friends and relatives who have passed on. “The Day of the Dead ride will have a New Orleans-style atmosphere, a festive but somber event with bicyclists dressed as skeletons in bright, festive colors, bringing gifts of paper flowers and sugar skulls to offer the dead in their journey through the infinite bike lane,” says ride organizer, Monica Hunken.
Riders will theatrically “die” under the wheels of cars parked in bike lanes, demonstrating the danger caused by motorists parked in bike lanes. “The Bloomberg Administration claims it wants New York to be a bike friendly city, yet these are simply empty words unless the NYPD starts enforcing the traffic laws prohibiting cars from parking in bike lanes,” claims ride organizer Benjamin Shepard. “We are calling for the city to honor its commitment to create a bike-friendly, green city.”
For tentative ride route and estimated arrival times, call Barbara Ross at 917 494 8164.
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TIME’S UP! is a non-profit environmental group that has been using educational outreach and direct action for over 20 years to promote a more sustainable, less toxic city.
