9.10.2009

22 ghost bikes appear at Connecticut and R

This morning 22 ghost bikes were in place around the intersection of Connecticut Avenue and R Street, NW. These come in response to the city's removal of the original Alice Swanson memorial ghost bike. A blog has been started that vows to continue replacing the ghost bikes in perpetuity. I counted 16 bikes this morning, though it started as 22, one for each year of Alice Swanson's life.

Here are some photos. The bikes are all sizes, mens', womens' and childrens'. As I was walking down Connecticut I saw that there was a ghost bike in the original spot, and then I began to notice the others. It's quite a powerful sight. Everywhere you look, you see a ghost bike. I apologize for the rather poor quality photos, I did not have my camera with me, so I had to use my phone.




It's all but certain that DPW will remove these, likely today. It is a provocative statement, and part of me is happy to see the display. However, at this point, the likelihood of any ghost bike remaining on public property in DC is slim-to-none.

As I mentioned before, I will continue to follow the story of the removal of the original ghost bike. Also, MPD needs to make the accident report public. It's been over a year.

9 comments:

  1. Organized FOIA request for the accident report?

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  2. I'm looking into it, though I don't believe police reports fall under FOIA. I think MPD has their own procedure for that.

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  3. While this is certainly moving and a much needed reminder, I can't help but think of how 22 bikes could have been given to those who can't afford them and would offer greater mobility for those in need.

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  4. Interviewed the guy who did this last night. Cool dude!

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  5. Sorry, but i agree with the city. The bikes need to be removed and an appropiate place for a memorial should be discussed with city officials. People have their heart in the right place, just not their head.

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  6. The city desk in an interview said it took the guy "weeks of dumpster diving" and craig's list and freecycling to do this.

    If only that effort had been put towards working with the city on a real, permanent memorial instead of cluttering the sidewalks with something that, as you noted, will certainly be gone in short order.

    Or maybe it had less to do with Alice Swanson and more to do with PR for the "artist."

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  7. Sette Bello is right at the intersection and a strong proponent of cycling. You might ask the owner if you could put bikes just inside his outseide seating area fence. DC would be slower to remove them.

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  8. I hope the city fines the person who's doing this for littering.

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  9. Denizen of Tennallytown I suppose you'd agree then that the city should also fine whoever is littering the city with millions of cars. or perhapse fine the operators of said cars who threaten the lives of cyclists city wide every day.

    you see 22 spray-painted bikes in the USA, it's a protest. you see the same thing in many other parts of the world - and it's status quo. heck, most people probably wouldn't even notice this. here in DC, car owners see this and loose their minds.

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