Two workers for a business improvement district trashed a ghost bike memorializing Robyn Hightman, a cyclist killed by a truck driver in 2019, leaving still-grieving relatives and friends traumatized as they search for answers.
Cleaners for the Flatiron NoMad Partnership removed the ghost bike early on Feb. 18, cutting through chains that tied it to a pole on Sixth Avenue between 23rd and 24th streets. A spokesperson for the business improvement district called the flower-covered, white-painted shrine "clearly derelict" and its removal merely part of “routine district maintenance operations."
“Following recent winter weather, the ghost bike’s appearance had deteriorated and it was mistakenly treated as part of that routine clearing,” the spokesperson said, acknowledging it was trashed — though the spokesperson offered the euphemism “through standard removal procedures."
But that does not appear to be accurate: A photo obtained by Streetsblog shows the ghost bike decorated with colorful flowers sitting in the trash about a block away from where it formerly sat as a memorial. It didn't look starkly different compared to Google Street View photos of it from 2022 and 2024.
Hightman’s father, Jay, told Streetsblog that he has few reminders of his child, who used they/them pronouns, and called the ghost bike’s removal “heartbreaking and upsetting.” There was also a ghost bike for Hightman in their native Virginia, but that was removed as well.
“The only things that I have to memorialize my [child[ are these ghost bikes,” the father said.
Despite trashing the ghost bike, the Flatiron NoMad Partnership spokesperson claims the organization “welcomes collaboration with local advocates and impacted individuals to support an appropriate replacement memorial.”
“The Flatiron NoMad Partnership recognizes the significance of ghost bikes as tributes to cyclists who have lost their lives and regrets that this occurred,” the spokesperson said.
Business improvement districts such as the Flatiron NoMad Partnership are private entities that raise money from area businesses to provide supplemental services such as sanitation and security. Workers for such organizations do not work for the city Department of Sanitation, which gives its employees proper training about ghost bikes, including not to touch them, a spokesperson said.
The ghost bike honoring Hightman memorialized their death and served as a reminder to drivers to share the road with cyclists. Hightman died during a wave of 29 cyclist deaths after vehicle crashes in 2019, which eventually spurred then-Mayor de Blasio to implement the “Green Wave” bicycle plan.
Since Robyn's death, Jay Hightman has become an advocate for infrastructure and transportation improvements designed to improve street safety and save lives. He’s now working to help pass federal regulations requiring side guards on tractor-trailers, which he believes could saved his child’s life, as they died after falling beneath a truck.
Antonio Garcia, the truck driver who killed Hightman, was not punished for the death. In fact, he got a pat on the back from the cops at the scene, Streetsblog reported at the time.
Jay Hightman said he hopes to reinstall Robyn's ghost bike.
“There’s a value for people to be able to both see ghost bike signs as well as these ghost bikes,” he said. “As far as road safety advocacy goes.”
