BY KEVIN DALOIA
A third Bronx bicyclist was killed on Saturday, June 21, at around 5 p.m by the driver of a Jeep on the Pelham Bay Bridge, and a few Bronx bicycle safety advocates prepared a Ghost Bike memorial and plaque in his honor.
On Monday, June 29, members and volunteers from Transportation Alternative Bronx Committee, Street Memorials and some local community members, secured the Ghost Bike at the location of the crash on the north side of the Pelham Bay Bridge, to bring awareness that 43-year-old cyclist Edward Marrow was killed at the location. The gesture will hopefully lead drivers, cyclists and pedestrians to be more cautious. Family and friends were in attendance at the memorial.
According to police, Marrow was riding southbound on a peddle-assist e-bike on the Pelham Bay Bridge inside Pelham Bay Park on the sidewalk. The police report stated “He lost control and fell off the sidewalk entering the roadway, where he was hit by a northbound driver.”
Marrow suffered severe head trauma and was taken to Jacobi Hospital, where he died. The driver stayed on the scene and was not charged at that time. The investigation is ongoing, The following night had a deadly six-car crash at the same intersection. And six days later, an SUV flipped over within the same location.
The bridge, which is planned to be replaced beginning in 2022, has two travel lanes in each direction but no protection for that sidewalk on either side of the span. There is a plan to add protective Jersey barriers on the south side, but there has been no date set.
According to the organizer, Kevin Daloia, a local advocate for safer streets, “It is obvious by the broken sidewalks, loose gravel on the roadbed, lack of appropriate lighting, potholes and condition of the pedestrian pathway that the DOT has neglected this area for quite some time. There needs to me an immediate safety upgrade protecting users of the pathway from moving traffic. There is currently no curb to prevent a vehicle from riding up on the sidewalk. And cars moving at 40 miles per hpur cannot simply merge into traffic that is just starting to move from the traffic signal.”
In 2019, the DOT committed to installing Jersey barriers on the south side of the bridge, protecting the users of the greenway. No date has been set.
On June 8, Ivan Morales was killed in a crash on Willis Avenue and 138th Street. The Friday after, Jose Garcia was run over by a box truck on Park Avenue, near 138th Street. Garcia stated he had “swerved to avoid a double-parked car” and “did not see the bicycle” on Park Avenue three blocks away.
On Monday, June 22, TABX placed and dedicated Ghost Bikes for both of these two bike riders in Mott Haven.
