One Year Later Rocket Still Pedaling Women Home Safely

Brooklyn Bike Patrol Celebrates One Year of Helping Women Get Home Safely

Believe it or not, one year has already passed since Jay “Rocket” Ruiz was first inspired to start his grassroots security organization, “Brooklyn Bike Patrol.” Back in September 2011 Brooklyn women were fearful after at least 20 sexual assaults had been perpetrated during a six-month period beginning in March from Bay Ridge to Park Slope. Finally Ruiz felt he needed to act to protect women and help them arrive home safely, so he hopped on his bicycle and rode to the subway station at Fourth Avenue and Ninth Street and held up a sign that said: “Brooklyn Bike Patrol” with his name, phone number and e-mail address.

After a short time Ruiz had a crew of 11 volunteers escorting women from 11 subway stations so they could arrive home in peace.

One year later “Brooklyn Bike Patrol” still has only 11 volunteers, but they manage to cover 50 subway stations in 16 Brooklyn neighborhoods including Prospect Heights, Crown Heights, Bed-Stuy, Sunset Park, Kensington, Windsor Terrace and Carroll Gardens, Borough Park, Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Bushwick and Williamsburg.

To celebrate this milestone Ruiz and his crew plan on riding down Fifth Avenue in Park Slope handing out flyers offering their free service. “Brooklyn Bike Patrol” would like to acquire cameras for each of the volunteers to wear on their helmets. Ruiz believes this piece of equipment will make the escort even safer. Each camera costs $269, but he says when traveling through some of the rougher neighborhoods having a camera recording every walk will make it safer just in case something happens along the way.

“We are grateful for all the love and communities we cover,” he said, explaining that BBP now has 117 clients. “I wanted to do this for one year, but now there are so many people calling us and we need to keep doing it. People still need us, so I want to see where we are at in five years.”

Ruiz said he feels like he is “on top of the world” to be able to celebrate one year protecting women.
But, he is humble:

“We are not the heroes, the heroes are the women who call us and trust us to walk them home,” Ruiz said.

Founder of Brooklyn Bike Patrol Jay “Rocket” Ruiz Protects Brooklyn’s Women

Brooklyn Bike Patrol

Jay Ruiz was watching the news with his wife on September 13^th, 2011 when suddenly video footage of a woman being attacked in Park Slope came on the air. Ruiz was shocked by the violent assault, her terrifying screams, and most disturbingly, the lack of anyone coming to her aid.

Not the type to take such an event in stride, Ruiz was inspired to do something about it.

“What if every woman was safely escorted home?” he said to his wife in their Prospect Heights home.

The next night that is exactly what Ruiz did: he jumped on his bike and pedaled over to the subway station at Fourth Avenue and Ninth Street with a friend and held up a sign saying: Brooklyn Bike Patrol, including his name, phone number and e-mail address.

“At first people thought we were crazy and didn’t know if we were good guys or bad guys up to no good,” said Ruiz a ten year veteran of the bike messenger business.

As luck would have it, a News 12 van drove up and interviewed Ruiz about the Brooklyn Bike Patrol. Then only a few minutes later a reporter for the New York Daily News exited the train. She took a picture of Ruiz and wrote and accompanying story.

Since then the BBP has become a reliable service, helping women to be and feel safe as they walk in their neighborhoods at night. The service began with 11 volunteers at 11 subway stations, but now they have enough bikers to cover 35 locations is many Brooklyn neighborhoods, including:  Bed-Stuy, Carroll Gardens, Clinton Hill, Cobble Hill, Fort Greene, Kensington, Park Slope, Prospect Heights, Sunset Park, and Windsor Terrace. As of January 30^th BBP added Borough Park to their area of coverage, including five of the stations along the D train line.

If you or someone you know would like to coordinate a safe and secure walk home at night you can call: Tel: 718-744-7592; e-mail: brooklynbikepatrol@gmail.com; go to Facebook: facebook.com/BROOKLYNBIKEPATROL; Twitter: @BKbikepatrol

Volunteers to ride with the BBP can also get in touch. The hours of service are: Sunday through Thursday, 8 p.m. to midnight. Friday through Saturday, 8 p.m. to 3:30 a.m.

Brooklyn Bike Patrol Gearing Up for Beefed Up Service

Jay "Rocket" Ruiz of BPP

As the Southbound F and G subway line service interruption in Kensington begins, extra patrolling by the volunteer Brooklyn Bike Patrol is getting into gear.

As was mentioned in an earlier blog post, the Metropolitan Transit Authority, (MTA) will be suspending service of its southbound F and G trains at the 15th Street-Prospect Park and the Forth Hamilton stations. Service was curtailed on November 14th, and will continue until May of next year.

The closing down of service at these stations means that people will have to get off the train either before or after the closed stations, lengthening their travel time above ground, where several attacks on women have  taken place, spreading fear in the neighborhood.

Augmenting the increase in police patrols in the neighborhood is the Brooklyn Bike Patrol, whose president Jay “Rocket” Ruiz has stated that his volunteer organization will be at the F/G Seventh Avenue Station beginning last Monday night to make sure women will get home safe.

Before the suspension of service began Ruiz stated, “We are going to be out here tonight, we will be out here all week,” Ruiz said on Monday, explaining that BBP will be paying close attention to the F/G suspension.

“We will actually be out here all year long, until service is resumed at these stations.”

Beginning at 8pm each evening, Ruiz and 11 additional volunteers will be there on their bikes to escort women safely home.  Women can call for an escort or they can contact BPP using e-mail, Facebook or Twitter and get volunteer to accompany her home from any of 25 different subway stations in the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Park Slope, Kensington, Sunset Park, Carroll Gardens, Prospect Heights, and now, Fort Greene-Clinton Hill.

Keep these numbers handy:

•    Tel: 718-744-7592
•    E-mail: brooklynbikepatrol@gmail.com
•    Facebook: facebook.com/BROOKLYNBIKEPATROL
•    Twitter: @BKbikepatrol
•    Hours: Sunday through Thursday, 8 p.m. to midnight
•    Friday through Saturday, 8 p.m. to 3:30 a.m.

Brooklyn Bike Patrol Take Back Brooklyn Streets

Jay Ruiz of Brooklyn Bike Patrol

Park Slope, a neighborhood just a bit north of Kensington, has responded to an increase in the number of sexual assaults that have taken place there lately, with a bike patrol composed of volunteers.

Brooklyn bikers will stand at the ready when a woman emerges from the subway station and will offer to accompany her home if she does not feel comfortable walking  alone at night.

Jay Ruiz, a 55 year old dispatcher for a bike messenger company,  founded the group and gave it the name Brooklyn Bike Patrol.  Ruiz said,

“We just want the monsters to stop already.”

The group began escorting women home last Friday.

Ruiz explained that they are not only covering the area of southern Park Slope, but the Brooklyn Bike Patrol will also be on the lookout for crimes in his own neighborhood of Prospect Heights, which has had several robberies in the recent past.

Ruiz explained his motivation: “It’s so bad to see women getting attacked. I feel like I have to do something.”
So far Ruiz has found 10 volunteers to help him cover the area from 8pm to midnight, with an emphasis on the five subway stations in the area.

What finally inspired Ruiz to take action was the “Take Back Our Streets” rally last week which was organized by women of the neighborhood.

"The cops can't be everywhere," Ruiz said. "Just give us a call and we'll have someone there."