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Illegal Street Memorials Mark Spots Where Drivers Killed Without Consequences
By
John Del Signore
Published Mar 15, 2013
Modified Mar 26, 2013
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By
John Del Signore
Published Mar 15, 2013
Modified Mar 26, 2013
Share
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Last night a group of cyclists took to the streets to spraypaint body outlines memorializing eight spots where pedestrians and cyclists were killed by motorists who faced no criminal charges. This morning, activists affiliated with Times Up! will be visiting the memorials to call attention to the NYPD's widely-criticized handling of crash investigations.
The chilling memorials were painted on spots where the NYPD declared there was “No Criminality Suspected" within hours of each crash. The locations include the spot in Queens where 16-year-old Tenzin Drudak was killed by a driver who careened up onto the sidewalk after spilling a container of milk, and the spot in Queensbridge where Japanese student Ryo Oyamada was killed by an NYPD patrol car. Over the last week, six pedestrians and cyclists have been killed by motorists and not a single driver has been charged with a crime.
On Monday, it was reported that the NYPD would make changes to the way it handles crash investigations, including changing the name of the unit responsible for the probes from Accident Investigation Squad to the Crash Investigation Squad. The ludicrously understaffed unit will be somewhat beefed up, and has been instructed to investigate collisions even when there's no immediate expectation that the victim will die.
Time's Up! organizer Keegan Stephan says, “By declaring ‘no criminality suspected’ within hours of deadly crashes and yet refusing to release their investigations, the NYPD is whitewashing traffic violence to the public, withholding potentially emotionally-healing information from grieving families, and robbing safer-streets activists of the information they need to best advocate for a livable city."
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no criminality suspected
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John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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