Printshop Move

We've moved our printshop out of the East Village in Manhattan to Long Island City in Queens. Still getting set up and making sure that all bugs are ironed out from the new space. Things look sweet so far and I apologize for any shipping delays.

-Ethan Laek

New York Hard Court

Doug D has been keeping this updated for a little bit now:

http://www.newyorkhardcourt.com/

3rd ANNUAL MEMORIAL RIDE & WALK FOR CYCLISTS AND PEDESTRIANS KILLED IN 2007 - Jan. 6.

This year's annual memorial ride has three starting locations in the Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn. If you can't make it to a starting location, please feel free to join us at any stop along the route posted below. All rides will converge in Williamsburg and then meet with the Walk to Remember Pedestrians Killed in 2007 and we will all enter City Hall to participate in a rally and press conference. See www.ghostbikes.org for more details.

3rd ANNUAL MEMORIAL RIDE & WALK FOR CYCLISTS AND PEDESTRIANS KILLED IN 2007
SUNDAY JANUARY 6, 2008

Bronx/Manhattan Ride

930-950:Gather @ E. Gun Hill Rd & Seymour Ave, North Bronx
(Subway: E. Gun Hill Road Station of Dyre Ave bound 5 train)

09:50 – Juan Solis Memorial @ East Gun Hill Road & Bouck Ave

10:55 – Unnamed Cyclist Memorial @ Melrose Ave & 153rd St.

11:45 – Bathroom break (ca. 5-10 mins) at Haarlem Meer restrooms
(110th & Lenox Ave entrance to Central Park )

12:10 – Manhattan pick-up @ Central Park South & 7th Ave.
(No waiting unless there ride is ahead of schedule.)

12:25 – Franco Scorcia Memorial @ Broadway & W.40th St.

12:55 – David Smith Memorial @ 6th Ave. & W.36th St.

01:30 – Manhattan pick-up @ bike path entrance to Queensborough Bridge.
@ 60th St, between Second & First Avenues

02:30 – Convergence w/ Queens & Brooklyn Rides. See Brooklyn Ride for more info



Queens Ride

9-9:15 –Gather Jamaica Center @ Parsons Blvd. & Archer Ave, East Queens

(Outside the Jamaica MTA &1/2 mile east of LIRR station. J, E, or LIRR train service)

10:00 – Elijah Wrancher Memorial @ Springfield Blvd. & 130th Ave.

11:45 – Habian Rodriquez Memorial @ Main St. & Horace Harding Blvd.

01:00 – Carolina Hernandez Memorial @ 57th Ave. & Junction Blvd.

02:30 – Convergence w/ Bronx & Brooklyn Rides. See Brooklyn Ride for more info



Brooklyn Ride

930-950:Gather @ Seth Low Playground, South Brooklyn

(SE corner of playground , Ave P & W12 St. Near F, N & D trains.)

10:00 – Mark Grichevsky Memorial @ Bay Pkwy & W10th St.

11:30 – Unnamed Cyclist Memorial @ Fulton St. & Utica Ave.

12:15 – Jeffrey Moore Memorial @ Chauncey St. & Rockaway Ave.

01:00 – Anthony Delgado Memorial @ Palmetto Ave & Central Ave.

01:45 – Luis Ramos Memorial @ Flushing Ave & Beaver St.

02:30 – Craig Murphey Memorial @ Union Ave & Ten Eyck St.

03:45 – Sam Hindy Memorial @ Manhattan entry to the Manhattan Bridge
(Near intersection of Canal St. & Bowery.)

04:30 – Convergence of Pedestrian Memorial Walk & Cyclist Memorial Ride

04:45 – Memorial for Unknown Cyclists @ City Hall

05:00 – Street Memorials Rally @ steps of City Hall


Pedestrian Memorial Walk

03:30 – Gather @ Cadman Plaza on North side of Tillary St.
(Cadman Plaza E & Tillary St.)

03:45 – Memorial @ Tillary St. & Adams St.
(BK side of the Brooklyn Bridge)

04:30 – Memorial Walk across the Brooklyn Bridge in honor of all 2007 NYC Pedestrian Deaths

04:30 – Convergence of Pedestrian Memorial Walk & Cyclist Memorial Ride.

04:45 – Memorial for Unknown Cyclists @ City Hall

05:00 – Street Memorials Rally @ steps of City Hall

Soon...

I'm going to put up a 'How to Make a Polo Mallet, New York Style' post soon.

You need an aluminum ski-pole, a mallet head, hacksaw, drill, nylon lock-nuts, threaded rod, a tap and a proper sized drill pieces. Easy right??

phew!

The first batch of the ELVS hats are in and shipping on Friday! Very excited to say the least.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

-Ethan Laek

We Saved the Polo Court!

First off, let me offer thanks to everyone who helped out. Dave C, Brad @ Trackstar, Julie B, Turdy, the New York Hard Court (NY-HC) Polo crew, the Neighborhood kids and their parents, Gus the Deli owner, and most importantly the Horticulturists! I was sitting behind the main Horticulturist and she was awesome! So emphatic!

A summary: A petition was circulated before the local community board (CB3 in lower Manhattan) by a small group of people in favor of turning 'The Pit' (our much beloved Polo Court) into a dog run. We (NY-HC) found out about this maybe about two weeks or so ago when a new player mentioned (Rojo?) At any rate, we were understandably irate since some of the vocabulary used indicated that the court was never used (false, during the week we usually have to fight with the kids for it.) and that the inclusion of a Dog Run would help pacify and clean up the area (a dog run is evidently more powerful then the police when cleaning up the parks. Who knew?!)

With Dave C providing the central organization, we rallied and rallied hard. By the time of the meeting on Thursday, we had amassed at least 700 signatures on paper as well as
a bilingual petition in Chinese and English (big thanks to Trackstar for the sigs and Turdy for the translational). Per Dave's suggestion our argument focused on how used the space was and how it provided a safe area for the kids to play team sports (the street does not suffice) instead of what an awesome time Bike Polo is.

When the Board finally reached our topic, the Speaker made it clear that just from the sign-in sheet alone; there were 33 against the Dog Run and only 3 in favor of it. We had at least 10 of the kids there with us (they brought their footballs and baseballs, etc...) plus a good 15 or so NY-HC players/supporters and at least 6 people from the Horticulturists. In response the Dog Run people had ~200 signatures and their petition was in English only. They demonstrated that they were affluent and disconnected from the true nature of the community by ignoring the cultural implications of their request as well as the effect it would have on the children of the area.

In conclusion: Dave Rules! NY-HC lives on! Dogs can be walked!

Help Save the New York Polo Court!

If you don't know already, our court is at risk of being turned into a Dog Run. We love dogs, but frankly the court is unique in New York City and needs to be saved!

A group of dog owners in the Lower East Side is proposing to turn the "pit" at Chrystie & Broome Streets into a dog run. What they don't know is that this unique multi-use space is utilized by a number of groups on a regular basis, has been featured in major media as a multi-use space, and is often left cleaner than it was found by it's users.

Please sign our petition to keep this space as it is: http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/SaveSaraDRooseveltPark