{"id":331019,"date":"2026-08-27T14:26:22","date_gmt":"2026-08-27T14:26:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/331019\/"},"modified":"2026-08-27T14:26:22","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T14:26:22","slug":"widow-of-crash-victim-speaks-nobody-is-envying-us-today-zohran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/331019\/","title":{"rendered":"Widow of Crash Victim Speaks: ‘Nobody Is Envying Us Today, Zohran’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mary Beth Kelly<\/a> is one of the founders of Families for Safe Streets<\/a>, the safety advocacy organization comprised of victims of road violence. Her membership in this somber club was stamped on a horrific day in 2006 when her husband Carl Henry Nacht<\/a> was run down by a tow-truck driver on the West Side Highway. She\u2019s not a paid lobbyist, but a widow whose decades of advocacy and personal loss are incorruptible. The power of her words over the years have led to lasting change in our city. But last night, at the Transportation Alternatives\u2019 die-in at City Hall, she directed her frustration at Mayor Mamdani. We are reprinting her comments in full.<\/p>\n

I am so sorry that we are gathered here because of the deaths that have taken place over the course of one week, three cyclists and one pedestrian. Yes, City Hall, there\u2019s blood in our streets. I am sorry if that sounds strong, but we have to be strong about this. I have been doing this kind of effort for safe streets for the last 20 years, when my husband, Dr. Carl Henry Nacht, was killed, it was a beautiful evening like this when we went out on our bikes for a ride to get some dinner and enjoy ourselves when a tow truck took a fast turn into our intersection, missed me but killed him.<\/p>\n

I thought a lot today about these four people who have died, and I think about them being left on the street to die. Hit and runs \u2014 and we have no one apprehended in this city where you\u2019ve got cameras just about everywhere. No apprehension.<\/p>\n

I think about these young people<\/a>: Mamadou [Diallo], Paulina [Tec Choc], Angelo [Camera], Destiny [Murrell]<\/a>. Think about that \u2014the hopes and dreams riding on a girl named Destiny. At least I was with my husband, and I watched as he tried, with his remaining strength, to push himself up off the pavement until he lapsed into a coma and died three days later from his injuries.<\/p>\n

Where\u2019s the plan here? We are seven months into a new administration, Zohran \u2014 and I hope it\u2019s OK that I use your first name because we\u2019ve met several times and I canvassed like hell for you, because you, I believe, are the mayor we\u2019ve been waiting for, who can make the changes in hearts and minds and on our streets that we so badly need.<\/p>\n

I never dreamed that it would take 20 years, and I\u2019d still be standing here asking for the same things. We\u2019ve come a long way: We\u2019ve lowered the speed limit, but not far enough. Took us four years in Albany to pass Sammy\u2019s law, and now it\u2019s pretty stalled, with only a few places are getting their 20 or 15 miles an hour in their neighborhoods.<\/p>\n

This carnage has to stop, and we need a master plan, a vision from a visionary mayor who wants our streets to be the envy of the world. Nobody is envying us today, Zohran. I\u2019m sorry, but they\u2019re not. They\u2019re saying, \u201cOh yeah, ha ha. They can\u2019t do it either.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"A piper blew mournful notes at the die-in. Photo: Gersh Kuntzman<\/p>\n

And don\u2019t make this about e-bikes, the favorite topic now. I\u2019m sorry. It\u2019s not about e-bikes, and you know what, Zohran, it\u2019s not about wearing a helmet. I wear my helmet every day. It doesn\u2019t matter if I\u2019m hit by a truck. If you\u2019re a child that\u2019s hit at 30 miles an hour, you will die. <\/p>\n

So I ask this community. I ask this city. I ask its leadership. I ask its appointed and elected. Mike Flynn, I\u2019m talking to you. We need universal daylighting. We need a lowered speed limit. We need a network of bike lanes. I\u2019m 76 years old. I ride my bike in the city every day. I don\u2019t want to have to feel more and more frightened. I want to feel a little bit relaxed when I go out on my bike, that this city is taking care of me because our elected officials have the political courage to make this happen and become the envy of the world.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re having a die in today because we are trying to do what we can to honor and remember those people who unwillingly gave up their lives because we do not have a city that is safe enough for people to just walk and bike in. This is about life, liberty, and the pursuit of joy.<\/p>\n

Streetsblog reached out to City Hall for comment. After initial publication of this story, Mayor Mamdani sent over the following statement:<\/p>\n

\u201cThese tragic deaths underscore exactly why I support Vision Zero and any effort to prevent deadly crashes across our city. Whether you\u2019re walking, biking, driving or riding public transit, you deserve to get where you\u2019re going safely. \u2028Traffic deaths are at historic lows, but one death is still one too many. No New Yorker should fear walking to school, biking to work or driving to visit a loved one, and we will keep doing everything we can to make our streets safer for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mary Beth Kelly is one of the founders of Families for Safe Streets, the safety advocacy organization comprised…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":331020,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[9,56,63,65,64],"class_list":["post-331019","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-new-york","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-headlines","tag-nyc-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331019","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=331019"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331019\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/331020"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=331019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=331019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=331019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}