BY LINCOLN ANDERSON | A one-year anniversary vigil will be held for Lori Kleinman on Thurs., Oct. 3, at 6 p.m. outside Jefferson Market Garden, at the corner of Greenwich Avenue and W. 10th Street.
The spot is just steps from where Kleinman, 76, was fatally struck last October by a car while crossing the street. She was hit around 6:30 p.m. by a black SUV turning left from W. 10th Street onto Greenwich Avenue right in front of her apartment building, the St. Germaine, at 33 Greenwich Ave.
Kleinman was a board member and treasurer of both the Jefferson Market Garden and her co-op building.
The vigil is being co-sponsored by Transportation Alternatives and Families For Safe Streets.
Kleinman’s wife, Robin Felsher, said more needs to be done to make the spot safer.
“There is a traffic light but I am working with Community Board 2 to do something about that intersection,” she said. “The traffic light didn’t stop Lori from getting killed.”
Felsher said the SUV, which was an app-hail car, had just picked up three passengers at the Carriage House restaurant, at 142 W. 10th St. Kleinman, who stood just 5 feet 3 inches, was crossing back to the St. Germaine from Rosemary’s restaurant across the street after picking up some jamali, a pasta-and-peas dish that she loved, that they were going to have for dinner. They had some cod at home and “Lori was the cook,” her wife said, but she just didn’t feel like cooking that night.
Felsher recalled her last words to Kleinman: “‘I love you. Just be careful out there.’ I always said that to her — because tomorrow’s not promised.
“It may have had the green light,” she said of the SUV. “I saw the footage from a camera in our building. It had a TLC plate, as far as I know. It was essentially like a tank colliding with her. No human could have withstood being hit by a vehicle that size. The vehicle becomes weaponized.
“She was in the middle of the crosswalk. … I was downstairs within 15 seconds; she was totally unresponsive. Bellevue kept her alive, but there was so much brain damage due to the blunt force trauma to the head.”
The driver, a woman, stayed at the scene.
“They shouldn’t build cars like this,” Felsher declared. “They shouldn’t be allowed to be used for transportation vehicles. I don’t think cars of that size should be on the road. Those cars should not, in my opinion, be driving through the Greenwich Village area.”
Felsher and Kleinman, who was six years older than her, had retired on the same day, Jan. 1, 2010.
“My life partner suddenly is wiped off the face of the earth,” she said. “We had our life ahead of us. She had just beaten breast cancer.”
SUVs are not the only danger on the streets, though, Felsher noted.
“The rise of collisions with e-bikes and motorbikes is just escalating,” she said. “The Village has just gone from a more sleepy neighborhood to a neighborhood of tremendous saturation, and with it the collateral damage is the presence of large-scale ride-share vehicles. New York’s just become lawless.”
Ironically, Felsher noted, her wife had worked most of her career for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority New York City Transit.
Both of them progressives, believing in equality for all, together they supported Hillary Clinton for president.
“We both shared a dedication to make a difference in a positive way and to give back,” she said.
Felsher said that, after Kleinman’s tragic death, Councilmember Erik Bottcher sent condolences and said that “he fully supports efforts” to make the intersection safer. He also said he would see what could be done in terms of co-naming the corner Lori Kleinman Way.
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