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Safe streets: Say it and spray it

Photo by Liz Patek
Photo by Liz Patek

The group Right of Way held a “7 Over 70” ride Sunday to call attention to traffic danger, specifically, to senior pedestrians. The bicycle activists pedaled 30-plus miles to seven sites around the city where individuals more than 70 years old were killed by automobiles, at each tragic spot spray-painting a stencil with the victim’s name. Two of the fatalities were in the Downtown area. Stuyvesant Town resident Stella Huang, 88, was killed Nov. 27 around 5 p.m. by a Con Ed truck turning left from Avenue C onto E. 16th St. Meipui Chow Leon, 73, an East Village resident, was fatally struck on Aug. 23 by a van while crossing E. Houston St. in the crosswalk from Clinton St. to Avenue B. Sunday’s action occurred during a particularly bloody weekend in New York City. “While we were gathering supplies for this ride, five people were killed in traffic,” said Michael Mintz, a Right of Way organizer. Two pedestrians died in Queens and one on the Upper West Side, a cyclist was killed by a bus in Harlem, and a Manhattan driver died in Midtown.