Cyclist Killed In Sunset Park Was Local Artist, Yoga Teacher

SUNSET PARK, BROOKLYN — The cyclist who was killed Monday on Third Avenue — becoming the 18th to lose her life this year on New York City streets — was a local artist and yoga teacher who lived just a few blocks from where she was hit.

Em Samolewicz, 30, was riding north around 9 a.m. on Third Avenue when a parked car door opened near 36th Street, police said. She tried to swerve around the open door and was hit by a tractor trailer that had also been driving north on the avenue, police said.

Samolewicz, who was originally from Western Massachusetts, lived only a few blocks from where she was hit on 41st Street. She was an avid painter, art teacher and yoga instructor in the neighborhood, the Daily News first reported.

“She had been an art professor at Rutgers, a decent person trying to make it here in New York,” Samolewicz' landlord, who owned the art studio where Samolewicz lived and worked, told the News. “She rode her bike everywhere.”

Fellow cyclists and friends took to social media Tuesday to remember Samolewicz, who was killed just a few days after Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a $58 million plan for new bike lanes and increased traffic enforcement to address the spike in cyclist deaths. At that point, 17 cyclists had been killed, up from 10 total deaths in all of 2018.

"She was an artist & a yoga teacher. She could have been any of us of any age, color, gender that have lived or worked in #SunsetPark," Twitter user danissimons wrote. "May her memory be a blessing & an inspiration."

Others left simple heart emojis on Samolewicz' last post on Instagram, a photo presumably of the last piece of art she made.

"I love you Em," one commenter said.

A memorial was also set up at the yoga studio where Samolewicz taught. The studio, Third Root, established a GoFundMe campaign to raise funds for transwomen's healing and will provide free massage, acupuncture and yoga to trans women until Oct. 15, in honor of Samolewicz. They are also holding a memorial for Samolewicz on Tuesday evening.

The wake of Samolewicz' death also brought renewed calls from safety activists.

The deputy director of Transportation Alternatives called on Monday for de Blasio's plan to be amended to include Third Avenue, which they have long called a dangerous corridor for cyclists and pedestrians alike.

The first cyclist killed in 2019, Hugo Garcia, died just a few blocks from where Samolewicz was hit on the Third Avenue corridor. He had also been trying to avoid a parked car door that opened in his path. Garcia hit the door and was thrown into the roadway, where he was hit by a car.

Council Member Carlos Menchaca confirmed Monday that the driver who opened his door in Samolewicz path was given a summons. Menchaca added that he knew Samolewicz and called her "a most sweet and gentle light."

The driver of the tractor trailer was not arrested, but was also given a summons because his truck was too long, the News reported.

A candlelight vigil for Samolewicz is planned for 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday on the corner of Third Avenue and 36th Street.