Right now, I am alternating between feeling guilt and rationalizing a choice I often make.
I have pedaled on and through Randall's Island many, many times. It lies under the RFK Memorial (formerly Triborough) Bridge. The misnamed Harlem and East Rivers separate it from Manhattan and Queens, respectively, and a deceptively inert ribbon of water--the Bronx Kill--runs between it and the borough for which the body of water is named.
Most days, it's either uneventful or relaxing: Most of the island is parkland. The firefighters' academy occupies part of it; another piece is taken up by a water treatment plant. A small bridge connects the island to Ward's Island, the site of a mental hospital and homeless shelter. Bike lanes wind around Randall's from the Connector, a bike-pedestrian bridge spanning the Bronx Kill, down the main road and up the Harlem River side near Ward's.
That last stretch is one of the more remote parts of the island. Diana Agudelo rode it to and from her job at the Museum of the City of New York, the northernmost museum of Manhattan's famed "Museum Mile." I would imagine that she took that route mainly for the same reasons I have: It is both convenient and relaxing.
That last quality is also what leads some people let their guard down. I am not saying that Ms. Agudelo was not mindful of her surroundings, but in that island of calm amidst the city's hustle and bustle, it's easy to let one's guard down.
So she probably had no inkling of what was about to happen to her on Friday night: About half an hour before midnight, someone attacked and brutally beat her, taking her eBike and cell phone and leaving her to die. Someone out for a walk found her, unable to move or speak. She still can't do either, which is making it difficult for police to identify her attacker.
The guilt I mentioned at the beginning of this post is over knowing that someone has suffered a tragedy in the course of doing something I have done many times. I hope it doesn't become "survivor's guilt." At the same time, I have been offering rationales to people who've heard Agudelo's story and are admonishing me to "be careful" or simply scare me out of riding on the Island. I have long been aware of the risks of riding the particular stretch of bike lane where she met her fate, and I almost never ride on the Island after sunset.
All I can do now is hope that she is a "miracle:" The doctors have given her a very small chance of surviving. Oh, and I hope that the thug(s) who attacked her is/are caught.
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