Meg Felice Charlop
Meg Felice Charlop
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Age: 57
Location:
East Tremont and Crotona Aves
Bronx , NY
United States
Meg was on her way to work when she swerved to miss a car door opening and she was hit by a bus at the corner of Crotona and East Tremont Avenues.
The 2010 Tour de Bronx was dedicated to Megan Charlop.
Memories of Megan are posted here. Details of her life were reported upon in the New York Times.
Her crash was recounted in an article in the Daily News.
A Bronx woman nicknamed "Mother Teresa" for opening her home to poor and sick kids
was killed Wednesday when her bike ricocheted off a car door into the
path of a city bus.
Megan Charlop, 57, died under the wheel of the
bus in the chain-reaction accident on Crotona Ave., sparking waves of
anguish from her Norwood community.
"She was a mother to all the children in the neighborhood," said
longtime friend Jeanne Cuffy, 55. "She was such a giving,
gentle spirit. She had a heart bigger than life.
"All the children in the neighborhood are heartbroken. She was our
angel."
Charlop was riding south near E. Tremont Ave. about 8:25 a.m. when a
man opened the door of his Toyota Camry. She clipped the door and shot in front of the
bus, police said.
Her silver bike helmet flew off and lay pinned beneath one of the
bus' rear tires.
"It happened so fast," said bus passenger Angel
Otero, 48. "Everybody got off the bus gasping and crying when they
saw her."
The driver of the Toyota, Min Kyung Kwan, 66, got a summons for interfering with a
bicyclist.
"He's not doing well," said Kwan's son. "It's like he closed his
eyes, and when he opened them, it happened already. It's a tragedy for
both families."
Charlop, director of community health at the Montefiore School Health
Program, was married with four kids.
She regularly housed children from Africa
and the Caribbean who came to the U.S. for treatment - and took neighborhood youngsters on
trips to the Bronx Zoo and Botanical Garden to keep them out of
trouble.
She also housed a stream of foster kids, friends said.
"She loved life. She wanted to last forever so she could help people
who needed her," friend Claudia Brathwaite, 65, said. "She
dedicated her life to children and her neighborhood. There's no one like
Megan. She was the Mother Teresa of this neighborhood."
Outside the couple's threestory brick home, Charlop's husband, Richard Powers, embraced friends. Between sobs, he said, "I
can't believe she's gone. It's going to be so hard now."
Charlop, a fitness fanatic who lived in the Bronx for more than 30
years, rode her bike everywhere, friends said.
"The bike was part of her," said longtime pal Catherine Bracho.
It came as no surprise to Charlop's loved ones that in her final
moments she was working on a project to benefit neighborhood kids.
Friends said Charlop was making the rounds at Bronx schools yesterday
to finalize a community gardening project.
"I waved her goodbye as she rode away," Cuffy said. "She looked so
happy. She died doing something she loved."
--
On April 10, 2010, friends, family and cyclists installed a ghost bike
in her memory which was covered in this Tremont Tribune Article:
Memorial Bike Ride for Megan Charlop
April 20, 2010
By JORDAN MOSS
A "GHOST BIKE" WAS PLACED TO HONOR CHARLOP AT THE
CORNER OF EAST TREMONT AND CROTONA AVENUES, WHERE SHE WAS KILLED BY A
BUS WHILE BIKING ON MARCH 17 (PHOTO BY ADI TALWAR)
On April 10, dozens of friends, family and co-workers of Megan
Charlop gathered with their bicycles in front of the Bronx Museum of
History (Valentine-Varian House) on Bainbridge Avenue. The group cycled
with a police escort to Crotona Avenue at the corner of East Tremont
Avenue where Charlop was killed by a bus while riding her bike on March
17.
A white "ghost bike" (pictured) was dedicated to Charlop and it was
chained to a pole near the site of the accident. Several people spoke
briefly about Charlop, a beloved Norwood resident and mother of four who
made children's health her life's work. She was director of community
health at Montefiore's School Health program at the time of her death.
Later, many of those gathered, including her children, placed flowers in
the wheel spokes, handlebars and other parts of the bike. To close the
event, riders lifted their bicycles over their heads - a tradition known
as a "bike lift" - in tribute.
The memorial event was organized by Transportation Alternatives and
Montefiore's School Health Program.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Age: 57
Location:
East Tremont and Crotona Aves
Bronx , NY
United States
Meg was on her way to work when she swerved to miss a car door opening and she was hit by a bus at the corner of Crotona and East Tremont Avenues.
The 2010 Tour de Bronx was dedicated to Megan Charlop.
Memories of Megan are posted here. Details of her life were reported upon in the New York Times.
Her crash was recounted in an article in the Daily News.
A Bronx woman nicknamed "Mother Teresa" for opening her home to poor and sick kids
was killed Wednesday when her bike ricocheted off a car door into the
path of a city bus.
Megan Charlop, 57, died under the wheel of the
bus in the chain-reaction accident on Crotona Ave., sparking waves of
anguish from her Norwood community.
"She was a mother to all the children in the neighborhood," said
longtime friend Jeanne Cuffy, 55. "She was such a giving,
gentle spirit. She had a heart bigger than life.
"All the children in the neighborhood are heartbroken. She was our
angel."
Charlop was riding south near E. Tremont Ave. about 8:25 a.m. when a
man opened the door of his Toyota Camry. She clipped the door and shot in front of the
bus, police said.
Her silver bike helmet flew off and lay pinned beneath one of the
bus' rear tires.
"It happened so fast," said bus passenger Angel
Otero, 48. "Everybody got off the bus gasping and crying when they
saw her."
The driver of the Toyota, Min Kyung Kwan, 66, got a summons for interfering with a
bicyclist.
"He's not doing well," said Kwan's son. "It's like he closed his
eyes, and when he opened them, it happened already. It's a tragedy for
both families."
Charlop, director of community health at the Montefiore School Health
Program, was married with four kids.
She regularly housed children from Africa
and the Caribbean who came to the U.S. for treatment - and took neighborhood youngsters on
trips to the Bronx Zoo and Botanical Garden to keep them out of
trouble.
She also housed a stream of foster kids, friends said.
"She loved life. She wanted to last forever so she could help people
who needed her," friend Claudia Brathwaite, 65, said. "She
dedicated her life to children and her neighborhood. There's no one like
Megan. She was the Mother Teresa of this neighborhood."
Outside the couple's threestory brick home, Charlop's husband, Richard Powers, embraced friends. Between sobs, he said, "I
can't believe she's gone. It's going to be so hard now."
Charlop, a fitness fanatic who lived in the Bronx for more than 30
years, rode her bike everywhere, friends said.
"The bike was part of her," said longtime pal Catherine Bracho.
It came as no surprise to Charlop's loved ones that in her final
moments she was working on a project to benefit neighborhood kids.
Friends said Charlop was making the rounds at Bronx schools yesterday
to finalize a community gardening project.
"I waved her goodbye as she rode away," Cuffy said. "She looked so
happy. She died doing something she loved."
--
On April 10, 2010, friends, family and cyclists installed a ghost bike
in her memory which was covered in this Tremont Tribune Article:
Memorial Bike Ride for Megan Charlop
April 20, 2010
By JORDAN MOSS
A "GHOST BIKE" WAS PLACED TO HONOR CHARLOP AT THE
CORNER OF EAST TREMONT AND CROTONA AVENUES, WHERE SHE WAS KILLED BY A
BUS WHILE BIKING ON MARCH 17 (PHOTO BY ADI TALWAR)
On April 10, dozens of friends, family and co-workers of Megan
Charlop gathered with their bicycles in front of the Bronx Museum of
History (Valentine-Varian House) on Bainbridge Avenue. The group cycled
with a police escort to Crotona Avenue at the corner of East Tremont
Avenue where Charlop was killed by a bus while riding her bike on March
17.
A white "ghost bike" (pictured) was dedicated to Charlop and it was
chained to a pole near the site of the accident. Several people spoke
briefly about Charlop, a beloved Norwood resident and mother of four who
made children's health her life's work. She was director of community
health at Montefiore's School Health program at the time of her death.
Later, many of those gathered, including her children, placed flowers in
the wheel spokes, handlebars and other parts of the bike. To close the
event, riders lifted their bicycles over their heads - a tradition known
as a "bike lift" - in tribute.
The memorial event was organized by Transportation Alternatives and
Montefiore's School Health Program.