Vigil in Brooklyn Sunday for Victims of Traffic Violence

A vigil will be held in Brooklyn Sunday in honor of Ella Bandes and other victims of vehicular violence.

On January 31 of last year, Bandes, 23, was fatally struck by an MTA bus driver at the intersection of Wyckoff Avenue, Myrtle Avenue, and Palmetto Street. Since then, her family has tried to get the city to make improvements to the intersection, where according to NYC Crashmapper three pedestrians and two cyclists were hit by drivers between January and November of 2013.

A memorial wall will be unveiled, with the names of people who died in city traffic crashes in 2013 and 2014 to date. Family and friends of Bandes will speak, as will the families of Sammy Cohen Eckstein and Alison Liao, two of at least 12 children killed by NYC motorists in the past 12 months. They will be joined by electeds including State Senator Michael Gianaris, Assembly Members Nily Rozic and Maritza Davila, and City Council Members Ydanis Rodriguez, Elizabeth Crowley, Mark Weprin, and Antonio Reynoso.

“We are coming out in large numbers on Sunday to show Mayor de Blasio that we support him, and that we will be there in big numbers to back him up at Community Boards, at town halls, at press conferences, and other places where he will need support to implement Vision Zero,” said Hilda Cohen of Make Brooklyn Safer, in a press release. “We will go to Albany if that is needed. We will be there in large numbers and we will be vocal.”

The vigil will be held outside the Myrtle-Wyckoff subway station, on the L line, at 4:30 p.m.