As the Tykes on Bikes controversy continues on Park Slope Parents, there is words of mayhem and frenzy and injury on MLK Day sledding in Prospect Park. Here’s the email that came to our attention:
I was at the big hill today in the park amidst a frenzy of mad sledders. It was very crowded, and everyone was having a lot of fun, but then a boy got very seriously hurt and had to be taken away by ambulance. Right before hand in the area where he was sledding things were getting pretty out of control, and it seemed like there were several unsupervised older kids who were “snowboarding” on their sleds, or just generally not watching out for the people when they were sledding and walking back up the hill, which was very dangerous considering how crowded it was. Just thought I’d throw it out there that if your kids are going to go up there by themselves, especially, to try to remind them how dangerous it can be if people don’t watch out and keep things somewhat orderly. I’m a huge sledding devotee myself, but it was very upsetting to see how badly a child could get hurt in a split second.
Careful out there. PSP’s Susan Fox tragically notes: “My best friend’s niece died when she hit her head while sledding (it was one of those wicked fast intertubes). Since then I insist that my kids wear helmets. It was just tragic.”
2 responses so far ↓
1 these nuts // Jan 21, 2009 at 10:54 am
Blog namechange:
Gowanus Wuss
2 david // Jan 21, 2009 at 12:57 pm
Clearly the innaug was completely unmoving to me as all I care to comment about is the bikes. I felt like a lot of the comments in the previous GL bike post were very territorial in a suburban sort of way. Look, here’s what I can guarantee will continue to happen: People of all ages will continue to ride their bikes on the sidewalk for safety lest they be mauled by a double-parker or left-side passing car. So will delivery people, as well as people just ignoring the law. That’s a city–it’s messy and crowded and chaotic. Taking that away, or following things like this (and drinking coffee on the subway) to the letter of the law, takes away from the spirit and vibe which is Brooklyn. If you want your own personal and comfortable sidewalk real estate that travels with you wherever you go, anytime you go there, get thee to LI or NJ or upstate. Like I said– and I’ll put money on this– people WILL continue to use the sidewalk when and how they please. Don’t put your self-perception of status, because you have a tyke and/or degree, on the sidewalk too: Bike or not, you’ll get hit.