[*BCM*] Ghost Bike

[Thomas Vitolo]

The nature of the complaints were: it's time to move on.
We don't get it restored.
The Town of Brookline owns the land; it was on the sidewalk.

The bike was up for a year and a half, and was well maintained and 
re-flowered on a regular basis by individuals and by the nearby Trader 
Joe's.  I think that it was left up for a year and a half was remarkable 
-- the Town showed some real community and understanding in leaving it 
up that long.  I would add that the Brookline police officer who spoke 
with both Rebecca and me about it said that the family visited the site 
on the one year anniversary and was pleased that the bicycle was there 
at that time.  That the bicycle provided the family some comfort -- and 
that the police officers know that -- suggest that in addition to the 
comfort, the bicycle provided a reminder to the police that bicycle 
issues aren't important.

I believe that the Ghost Bicycle was an important piece of both healing 
for the family and bicycle safety within Brookline.  But Ghost Bikes 
aren't permanent fixtures, nor should they be.  I think that the Town 
did the right thing in leaving it up as long as it did, and did the 
right thing in removing it.


Finally, I thank the person who put the bike there in the first place.  
She's an A-OK lady in my book.

Tommy Vitolo
tjvitolo at tommyvitolo.com






On 1/5/11 1:02 AM, Hiroyuki G Yamada wrote:
> My only questions would be:
>
> Do we know of what nature the complaints were?
> How do we get it restored?
> ... with a subsidiary question of : Do we know who owns that land? -- 
> With the aim of getting their support in restoring the bike.
>
>
> On Tue, Jan 4, 2011 at 10:08 PM, Rebecca Albrecht 
> <ralbrecht at speakeasy.net <mailto:ralbrecht at speakeasy.net>> wrote:
>
>     The ghost bike that had been installed at the corner of Longwood
>     Avenue
>     & Sewell Avenue in Brookline, to honor the memory of Tracy Milillo was
>     removed by the police on December 30th,2010 because of complaints by
>     some residents of the Town. It is currently being held by the
>     police. If
>     you have any questions you may contact me.
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>
>
>
>
> -- 
> Hiroyuki G. Yamada
> Department of Urban Studies and Planning
> Massachusetts Institute of Technology
>
>
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