Monday: Rally for Traffic Justice at Manhattan DA’s Office

We're re-posting the notice for this demonstration, which is back on for Monday after being postponed due to the snowstorm earlier this week. Note that the rally is on for noon, not earlier in the day as previously scheduled.

The families of Hayley Ng and Diego Martinez, the two preschoolers killed by a van while walking with their class on a Chinatown sidewalk last month, are organizing a rally calling on Manhattan DA Robert Morgenthau to indict the driver who left the van unattended, double-parked and idling.

The victims' families are asking New Yorkers concerned about traffic violence to join them in front of the DA's office at One Hogan Place, Monday at noon. "We want everybody to stand behind this
cause," said Wendy Cheung, Hayley Ng's aunt. "We don't want this to happen to anyone else. We
need justice here."

It's not too late for Morgenthau, who has announced that he will not seek re-election, to start holding reckless and negligent drivers accountable. "We're hoping for the DA to set a precedent and prosecute this person or convene a grand jury," said Cheung. The van driver has not received so much as a summons and still carries a valid license. Morgenthau's office told the victims' families that the decision whether or not to prosecute would be made by the end of February, but so far, says Cheung, they are still waiting.

"They claim their hands are tied," she said. "We need to keep pressure on the DA and untie their hands. This was not an accident. If you step into a vehicle, you are responsible for that vehicle and the people around you."