A bicyclist was struck and injured by a car at the intersection of Grand and Chrystie streets at 3:15 p.m. this afternoon. The adult male cyclist, who appeared to be conscious, was taken from the scene to Bellevue Hospital by ambulance. The driver of the car, a silver Dodge Neon with West Virginia plates, was taken into police custody after being questioned, frisked and handcuffed. The victim’s injuries did not appear life-threatening and no charges had been filed as of 4:45 p.m., according to a police spokesperson.
The impact of the collision shattered the windshield of the car, which was parked eastbound on Grand Street between Chrystie and Forsyth after the accident. A large crowd of onlookers gathered along the sidewalk on a busy Sunday afternoon of shopping in Chinatown, gawking, as drivers on Chrystie honked in frustration at the blocked traffic.
Meanwhile, rescue workers loaded the cyclist onto a board and outfitted him with restraints and a neckbrace on the northeast corner of the intersection of Grand and Chrystie, next to the B and D subway stairs, where he appeared to have landed when thrown from his bike. A police officer took statements from several other cyclists gathered around the injured man, and another officer loaded the victim’s bicycle into the trunk of a cruiser. The other cyclists on the scene said the victim had been riding on Chrystie when he was hit.
The accident occurred as cyclists and pedestrians from across the city were gathering for memorial rides to honor bike riders and pedestrians killed in 2010 and 2011. A few blocks from the scene, at Delancey and Ludlow streets, a ride in memory of cyclist Fuen Bai, a 74-year-old woman killed by a school bus there on Jan. 5, 2010, was scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m. The citywide event organized by the Street Memorial Project also included a memorial ride in Brooklyn and dedication of 13 “ghost bikes.”
Event organizers cited statistics from the New York City Department of Transportation showing that 151 pedestrians and 18 bicyclists were killed in 2010. In 2009, 156 pedestrians and 12 bicyclists were killed on New York City streets. To date, two bicyclists have been killed in 2011. “Participants are demanding the city take stronger measures to reduce traffic fatalities citywide, through necessary improvements to street design, enforcement and education to protect bicyclists and pedestrians,” the Street Memorial Project said in a statement.
Look for a full report on the memorial ride later on The Lo-Down.
