Jamel Lewis
Jamel Lewis
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Age: 21
Location:
west 145th Street and 8th avenue
New York
United States
Jamel Lewis, was hit and killed by a private sanitation truck at the corner of Frederick Douglass Boulevard/8th Ave. and west 145th Street in Harlem. The driver didn't bother to look to see if their were no pedestrians or cyclists before he took a tight right turn into Jamel.
According to police, the driver was not charged with Jamel's death, but instead cited for 2 unrelated violations.
Jamel's death was unreported in the news although several members of the press were called to the scene; we learned about his death from a photographer who wanted Jamel's death to be known. Editors had decided not to run the story, alerting us that we may never know the total number of cyclists killed in past years.
Jamel was a security guard and DJ. He had written on his myspace profile that “even though the knowledge I possess is great, I am willing to learn. I figure the more I learn, the better I can understand life and its obstacles!”
While we were installing the ghost bike on a windy night in December, community members stopped and told us how they had been affected by this death. Despite the fact that the crash was in the middle of the night, they wanted to know who it was. They thanked us for Jamel's name so they could remember him in their prayers.
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Age: 21
Location:
west 145th Street and 8th avenue
New York
United States
Jamel Lewis, was hit and killed by a private sanitation truck at the corner of Frederick Douglass Boulevard/8th Ave. and west 145th Street in Harlem. The driver didn't bother to look to see if their were no pedestrians or cyclists before he took a tight right turn into Jamel.
According to police, the driver was not charged with Jamel's death, but instead cited for 2 unrelated violations.
Jamel's death was unreported in the news although several members of the press were called to the scene; we learned about his death from a photographer who wanted Jamel's death to be known. Editors had decided not to run the story, alerting us that we may never know the total number of cyclists killed in past years.
Jamel was a security guard and DJ. He had written on his myspace profile that “even though the knowledge I possess is great, I am willing to learn. I figure the more I learn, the better I can understand life and its obstacles!”
While we were installing the ghost bike on a windy night in December, community members stopped and told us how they had been affected by this death. Despite the fact that the crash was in the middle of the night, they wanted to know who it was. They thanked us for Jamel's name so they could remember him in their prayers.