by Lizi Rahman
Special to the News
Wednesday, October 28th 2009, 4:00 AM
Lizi Rahman stands next to a memorial where her son Asif was hit and killed while riding his bike in February of 2008.
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Lizi Rahman stands next to a memorial where her son Asif was hit and killed while riding his bike in February of 2008.
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It was a cold but clear and crisp day. When I came to the kitchen for breakfast, my son Asif was already heading for the door.
It was his third day at his new job, and he did not want to be late. He excitedly told me the day before that he rode his bicycle to work and that it only took him 25 minutes. Asif loved to ride his bike everywhere.
Even though he was a 22-year-old young man, I did not want him to ride his bike to work. As he left for work on that fateful day, I could not help but caution him to ride his bike carefully. As he carried his bike down to the street, he kept saying, "Okay, Mom" in response, as if I was a little girl. I sighed and concentrated on my breakfast.
At the end of the day, I came back home from work but Asif did not. Instead, two police officers came. They told me that Asif swerved to avoid a double-parked car and was fatally hit by a truck. He died instantly from internal injuries.
It was Feb. 28, 2008. Asif told me it took him only 25 minutes to go to work, but he never came home.
Asif was a very talented young man. He loved to perform spoken-word poetry, beat boxing, hip-hop music, painting and photography. When Asif was around, he filled our small house with joy and laughter, chasing after his little brother, teasing his big sister.
Without him it seems empty and quiet.
After that tragic day, when I visited Asif's accident site for the first time, I was shocked and surprised to see that there was no bike lane on Queens Blvd.
I remembered whenever I expressed my concerns to Asif about riding his bike, he laughed out loud, "Don't worry, Mom. There are bike lanes everywhere, and I always carry a bike route map."
But after his death, I realized that our roads are not safe for bicyclists.
I know how painful it is for a mother to lose a loving son. I do not want any mother to go through this pain. From that moment, I thought of helping to get a bike lane on Queens Blvd.
I started to write letters to our elected officials including Mayor Bloomberg, the commissioner of the Department of Transportation, congressmen, the borough president and City Council members, rallying for a bike lane on Queens Blvd.
I got responses from Council members James Gennaro (D-Fresh Meadows), John Liu (D-Flushing), Eric Gioia (D-Sunnyside), Tony Avella (D-Bayside) and Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Brooklyn/Queens). There has been no response from Mayor Bloomberg or Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan.
I believe that it is important to make our roads safer for the bicyclists and to make sure they get home safely to their loved ones.
More and more people are riding bikes during these times of global warming, traffic congestion and high gasoline prices. While the mayor is encouraging people to ride bicycles, he keeps quiet about a bike lane on Queens Blvd.
In response to Councilman Avella's letter, the transportation commissioner's office responded, "The request to place a bike lane on Queens Blvd., maintain flow without increasing congestion and maintain as many parking spots as possible conflicts with our goals for continued safety improvements for this corridor."
It's been almost two years, and nothing has happened yet. I do not know how many deaths will get us a bike lane. Or how long will it take.
Will someone explain to me why it is so hard to put a bike lane on a dangerous road like Queens Blvd., which has six lanes each way, when we have bike lanes on single-lane roads?
Lizi Rahman's son, Asif, was fatally struck by a truck while he was cycling on Queens Blvd. at 55th Road in Elmhurst on Feb. 28, 2008.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/queens/2009/10/28/2009-10-28_mas_tragic_loss_fuels_quest_for_a_queens_blvd_bike_lane.html#ixzz0qEOdao4P
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