On Sunday, the families of 10 pedestrians and cyclists killed in traffic crashes spent 12 hours honoring their lost loved ones, visiting the site of each tragedy over the course of 12 hours, with artist Robyn Hasty painting stenciled memorials to each each victim, reports Gothamist.
The group traveled 60 miles during the event, titled Ride of Remembrance and Hope and organized by Right of Way, which works to stop drivers from violating the rights of pedestrians and cyclists. By crisscrossing the city creating these memorials, the group hopes to encourage the city to step up its Vision Zero project, which aims to eliminate traffic-related fatalities, and to bring justice to the victims’ families.
The elegant, spray-painted stencils are white with red accents and depict an angel’s wings surrounded by flowers. They are generally accompanied by the victim’s name and date of death. Many families also added personal messages such as “missed beyond measure” and “his light still shines.”
This is not the first street art project to mark the sites of fatal accidents with artwork. As previously reported by Gothamist, a group of cyclists created a series of “chalk outline” stencils of the fallen victims in a similar event last year.
In a statement, Right of Way organizer Keegan Stephan described Saturday’s ride as a way “to honor the dead and the courage of their family members, who have pressed on despite unimaginable grief to advocate on behalf of all of us,” and “a call to action to our fellow New Yorkers to listen to these families and do everything we can to make sure no one else suffers what they have suffered.”
Watch a video the Ride of Remembrance and Hope below: