This morning, I was walking to work down Third Avenue. I saw three police sawhorses arranged in a triangle and several cops standing aroud. I stepped out into the street to cross, and right as I did so a guy crossing from the other direction called out, "What happened? What happened here, Officer?". I looked down and saw a big red puddle and two rivers running downhill; it was so bright, so Kool-Aid bright, it took me an instant to realize I was looking at blood. "Oh God," I gagged, noting that I had almost stepped in some.
"What do you think happened?" the cop responded.
"Someone got hit," said the guy. I just kept walking, I had to keep moving.
Update
After doing some exploring on local news sites, I believe this is the scene I walked through: an off-duty firefighter was riding his bike when he was hit by a bus. It happened early this morning on 52nd Street and 3rd Avenue. At last report, he was in critical condition.
4 comments:
is this strike really worth it?
The TWU employees have pensions, job security, great benefits, and built-in raises by virtue of their union memberships. And what are they striking for, again? To protect union employees that haven't even been hired yet and a raise of 5% instead of 3.5 - 4%? I don't get it.
I really think this is a case where the union has crossed the line of representing their membership to representing the politics of the administration.
This is an ILLEGAL strike based on laws that were meant to protect the union and the general public, passed not by corporate fat-cats, but by union supporters and social reformers.
All this is doing is hurting their own members and the credibility of their own organization. Not to mention the fact that a good portion of the people the TWU serve do NOT have the pensions, job-security, or benefits that the unions have provided.
And they want the general public to support them when the general public doesn't have guarantees of a retirement package, health coverage, and the like? I don't get it.
(sorry, cupcake -- i live way too political a life)
No problem Timmy- I try to keep this blog apolitical, but this strike has prompted me to spew vitrol all over. Fortunately, it's winding down now.
unfortunately, it happens all the time (people getting run over on bicycles), not just during the strike. you see white-painted bicycles chained to posts all over park slope where unfortunate people were crushed by trucks deciding to do strange things. (there's an advocacy group that puts them at the scene of accidents, to raise awareness). And, as someone who "fearlessly" rides breakneck everywhere I go, including through Midtown, I can say that it is absolutely terrifying and that there is nothing scarier than having a cab and a bus fly by on each side of you at 45 miles per hour.
I just heard that the guy who was hit died. They're saying he was the only strike-related fatality which is a miracle in itself.
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