Cyclist Killed In East W'burg Was Young Bushwick Artist, Cops Say

EAST WILLIAMSBURG, BROOKLYN — A cyclist killed on Boerum Street on Monday afternoon was an emerging artist who lived just a few blocks away from the crash in Bushwick, police said Tuesday.

Police identified the 28-year-old cyclist as Devra Freelander. Freelander, who lived nearby in an apartment on Garden Street, was riding her bicycle on Bushwick Avenue when she was hit by a cement truck that had been driving east on Boerum Street, police said.

She became the third cyclist killed on New York City's streets in the past week, and the 15th to lose their life this year, renewing calls from activists for safer policies from the city.

Freelander, a graduate from Rhode Island School of Design and Oberlin College, was making her name in the New York City art scene, the New York Post first reported.

She just recently was one of five artists featured in a "Times Square Immersive" exhibit and had focused on exploring climate change through her work, according to her website.

Friends, fellow artists and street-safety advocates mourned Freelander's loss online and with a memorial set up where she was killed.

Her fatal crash happened just a few hours before advocates and elected officials were already scheduled to rally about another cyclist accident in Brownsville.

The Brownsville rally honored Ernest Askew, who was fatally struck by a teenage driver Thursday night at the corner of Chester Street and Sutter Avenue. Just a few days before Askew's death, Robyn Hightman was killed on her bicycle in Manhattan.

"Rest in power Devra Freelander," Twitter user noel hidalgo wrote. "Your name will join Penelope, Mathew, Robyn and Aurelia — neighbors lost to failed #bikenyc policies."

Others took to Freelander's Instagram page, remembering her passion for her work and her unique energy.

"I was struck in those first few hours of getting to know you by your energy and intensity as well as your love for a cheap ‘Gansett," one friend, who said they met Freelander at RISD, wrote. "I will always remember and admire you for your passion, bottomless work ethic and your fluorescent aura."

Police said Tuesday that there have been no arrests in Freelander's crash and that the investigation is ongoing. The driver of the cement truck remained on scene after the crash, police said.