Cyclist Vigil Erupts In Shouting Match Between Drivers, Activists

WILLIAMSBURG, BROOKLYN — The tense safety debate between drivers, cyclists and pedestrians who share the city's streets erupted in real-time Wednesday as cement trucks drove by a vigil for a biker killed by one this week.

Two of the cement truck drivers got into a shouting match with activists gathered at the corner of Boerum Street and Bushwick Avenue, where Devra Freelander was hit and killed just two days earlier.

The drivers were from United Transit Mix, the same company whose truck hit Freelander Monday afternoon, making her the 15th cyclist to be killed on New York City streets this year. They were stopped at a red light on Boerum Street — just a block from the company's headquarters — when activists turned to point them out, some yelling in their direction.

"You have to look where you are going," one person shouted at a driver who leaned out his open door and window. "You are killing people!"

Though most of the confrontation was hard to hear, it appeared that the driver was arguing that it is hard for drivers to see cyclists and that Freelander had "made a mistake." Another driver, who got out of his car to talk to reporters, reportedly said the whole company was hurt by the incident.

Activists accused both drivers of "victim blaming" and said it's their "job to see everyone."

The face-off echoes a common debate between drivers who say an increasing number of cyclists on the road don't follow traffic laws and cyclist and pedestrian groups who argue more bike lanes, tougher enforcement on bad drivers and other policies are desperately needed to keep them safe.

Just moments before the trucks rolled by, Council Member Antonio Reynoso and activists had used their time at the microphone to call for similar safety improvements on Boerum Place and Bushwick Avenue.

The community has been asking for improvements to Bushwick Avenue for five years, Reynoso said, including requesting that the city's Department of Transportation clean up dried cement that drips onto the street and creates a hazard for cyclists.

"I want to make clear that these are preventable deaths," Reynoso said. "No matter how you get around this city, you shouldn't be risking your life to do it."

Both Bushwick Avenue and Boerum Street are not part of the city's designated truck routes, but have become "overwhelmed by truck traffic," advocates said.

The DOT said in a statement that truck drivers are allowed to go off the marked routes when they are "in the act of making a local delivery or from the place of origin." They are required to have a bill of lading or documentation showing their points of origin and destinations throughout each trip.

NYPD officers who showed up to the intersection shortly after the shouting match did not pull over either cement truck driver, but did reportedly give a ticket to another truck driver who passed through as the vigil was winding down.

Philip Leff, the chair for Transportation Alternatives, said that Wednesday's confrontation was a "symptom of the real frustration" cyclists and pedestrians feel.

"We don't want to confront the individuals here, we want to confront the policies that make this happen," he said.

Freelander, a 28-year-old artist from Bushwick, was the 11th cyclist killed in Brooklyn this year and the 15th citywide, up from 10 fatal incidents throughout all of 2018.

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

Since the three deaths, Mayor Bill de Blasio has called for a "major enforcement action" to crack down on dangerous driving and said he is working with DOT to develop a cyclist safety plan. NYPD then announced a three-week traffic initiative focused on driving and parking violations across the city.

Reynoso challenged the responses, though, arguing that the increased enforcement is actually what NYPD should be doing all along.

"Are we saying it took 15 people to die for them to simply do their jobs?" he said at the vigil.

Wednesday's heated exchange ended with the driver who got out of his car, who refused to give his name, seemingly implying that activists were using Freelander's death as a stunt to gain media attention as he got back into his truck.

"What was her name then?" he shouted at a man in the crowd.

"Devra Freelander, you piece of s---" the man replied.