On October 25, 2008, RightRides is expanding its service area to include five additional neighborhoods, increasing the count of neighborhoods served to 40.
New neighborhoods include:
Flatbush/Borough Park/Kensington, Brooklyn
Astoria, Queens
Woodside/Sunnyside, Queens
Greater Harlem area, Manhattan
Midtown (for pick-ups only), Manhattan
On the right, you can see our expansion map for Brooklyn. We're happy to announce that Brooklyn College is also included in our new service area.
In order to make this expansion as smooth as possible we’re looking to increase our volunteer base. If you’re interested in volunteering, contact Erin- (718) 522-0822 or by e-mail erin@rightrides.org
For more information or to view a service area map, visit: www.rightrides.org
Congratulations to Vivian for winning the 2008 RR Photo Scavenger Hunt. Vivian sent in an amazing series of photos from all over the city. The complete set can be seen on the RR flickr page HERE.
Just a reminder: this Saturday, if you want a free, safe, late-night ride to your home between 12 and 3 am (Sunday morning) and you are a woman or transperson...
CALL RightRides at 888-215-SAFE(7233)!!
We'll get you home, and we'll get your friends home too! If there are enough seatbelts you can even all go together and meet our great, motivated, inspired volunteers.
So get out there, and then get home safe- with us!
I volunteer for RightRides because I like its direct, grassroots approach to addressing street harassment and violence against women. The fear of street harassment and harm is something that every woman/trans-person experiences. Being a single girl who goes out a lot I have definitely taken cabs home quite often simply because I did not feel safe walking alone, and living on a non-profit salary made that decision a difficult one to make. In fact at one point I was working at a nightclub and had to quit because I got followed home by a guy exposing himself to me 2 blocks from my house at 3:30 in the morning. So when RightRides came along I was thrilled that there was someone who recognized that women should have the right to stay out and have fun but also the right to get home safely. I started using the service back when it started and then became a volunteer back in 2006 and have been volunteering ever since!
Just a quick note directing you to Nichelle's blog Fashion Swap and Meet, where she chronicled her finds from clothing swaps around the city- including the RightRides swap we had at the Delancey a while back! Check out her blog for more clothing swap events from a woman in the know, and thanks to Nichelle for this lovely picture.
Though the day dawned hot and sticky, by the time Erin (my boss and RR Program Manager) and ten cyclists met near McCarren Park at 4.30 it was cooling down, and they set off to paint the town white and black- with RightRides posters advertising our free rides home to the women and transfolk of Brooklyn!
I watched Erin spend hours researching, planning and testing the Get to Know Your Borough Bike Ride route, and meeting with RR volunter extraordinaire Liz (see the post about her and her Volunteer of the Month award below). And it all paid off!
The Ride's participants worked hard spreading the word for us, but it wasnt' all labor- Erin planned stops along the way to showcase some of Brooklyn's finest and oddest sights. The "big hit" of the day, she told me, was the Brooklyn Navy Yard in North Brooklyn. Abandoned for almost half a century, the Navy Yard built battleships during WWII, as well as the first steam-powered battleship, and at its height employed over 70,000 people. Now, business is finally back: a manufacturing plant, Steiner Studios (of Spiderman 3 fame) and other small businesses are moving back into the historic buildings in the Yard.
The group of cyclists (a gaggle? A murder, even?) then moved south, hitting up Gimme Coffee! (on Lorimer, north of Grand St.) for some free drinks. Then it was on to Habana Outpost (on Fulton, south of Lafayette) for some free corn to refuel. In all, the ride wound its way around Brooklyn for about 15 miles, and was a great way to see our beloved borough while doing some good, and getting some free food!
Thanks to all who came out, to BUST Magazine for listing the event, and to Dikes on Bike-cycles for advertising the event and coming along for the ride.
Ok, mea culpa- the Clothing Swap happened a while ago, but trust me it's been a busy time for this RightRides intern. But thanks to Mary, one of the great ladies who organized the Clothing Swap at the Delancey for RightRides, I've got a few photos she took of the event. And what an event it was! Cheap drinks, free clothing, great prizes, great DJ AND a sword-swallowing hostess!
After picking up a great pair of pumps and a Calvin Klein sweater, my favourite sideshow queen Lady Aye announced the raffle winners and the prizes kept coming and coming! Clothing, subscriptions to Time Out and the New York Times, jewelry, a haircut at Beehive Salon, 10 free lessons at the Brooklyn Guitar School- it was crazy!
Then, Lady Aye performed her death-defying sword swallowing with the winner of her prize. Jessica was a little nervous (she blamed the fantastic drink specials onstage!) but she managed to pull a 19 inch steel sword from Lady Aye's mouth without killing her! I was terrified, and my boss and RightRides co-founder Oraia couldn't watch as Lady swallowed the sword, past 3 gag reflexes (the show is perfect for children- it's educational!) until it touched the bottom of her stomach- apparently she can feel it! Then she bent over and Jessica her new assistant got the go-ahead and wink and grabbed the hilt and pulled it out. Yikes!
Talking later, Lady Aye told me that sword-swallowing was a childhood dream of hers. But until she overslept and was late for her job in the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, missing the attacks, she never learned the craft. After 9/11, Lady Aye decided to grab life by the melons and apprenticed with a sideshow performer from Coney Island, learning to sword-swallow and perfecting her onstage performance. I had a great time talking to her and all the fans of RightRides who came out to support the program- hope to see you at the next event!
Put up RightRides posters around town for a good cause and a chance to win prizes like a free Reiki body treatment from Namaste Williamsburg, two tickets to a live BAM performance, free coffee and more!
To enter simply visit the official event page (HERE), follow the instructions and submit everything with the completed submission form to erin@RightRides.org.
Flyers can be downloaded from the website (HERE) and printed, or RightRides can send them to you in the mail. Simply e-mail erin@RightRides.org and ask for an outreach packet.
All photo submissions that are sent via e-mail must be in JPG format, with no less than 150 DPI. Any print submissions should be sent via snail mail c/o Erin to 26 Court St. STE 505 Brooklyn, NY 11242. E-mail erin@RightRides.org with any questions or to receive more information.
Hello there, my name’s Hugh, and I’m going to give you a little taster of what volunteering for RightRides means to me and what it involves, after just having volunteered for my first shift this weekend.
To start with though (and to jump in at the deep end) I think it’s worth covering the idealistic, personal bit. Why did I bother volunteering (and why should you, or anyone else?). Well, for me, the appeal of Rightrides rested in the fact that it offered a practical, simple response to the growing problem of gender-based sexual violence on New York’s streets. The issue is stark: more women, and those who identify as women, are suffering from this horrific crime. That's reason enough to volunteer.
However, I have another motivation. I'm a 21 year old heterosexual male. I do not want to preach or appear self-involved, but the fact remains that most crimes of sexual violence are committed by young, heterosexual men. By volunteering for RightRides I felt that I was combating this very real stereotype, and adding my voice to hetero men who deeply opposes violence against women.
But on to the practicalities. Volunteering for RightRides is, to put it simply, fun. You train for an evening, sign up for a Saturday shift, and pretty soon you’re on the road with a fellow volunteer from 12 -3 a.m., answering calls (and occasionally getting hopelessly lost!). On my own shift I went down to one of the operating garages in Chelsea, to meet up with my partner and find the Zipcar we were going to use. My partner turned out to be the very friendly Trin, who has the rather cool job of an ABC news producer. Out we went. New York on a summer evening is great to drive around, especially for me as a Brit- the Manhattan skyscrapers impressive as ever, twinkling in the night.
Still, there wasn’t a huge amount of time to admire the view. My job as navigator (Trin was driving) meant I had to constantly field calls from our dispatcher back at the office, so we could co-ordinate pick-ups. Taking our passengers home, we drove all over Brooklyn, chatting with our riders, and complaining about the incredibly poor quality of music on the radio on a Saturday night! Nothing but pop.
Somehow, though, we managed to survive, and soon, our time was up. Back we headed to Manhattan tired and quiet but content. RightRides also pays for a taxi ride home for its volunteers after a shift. I hopped into my taxi, little knowing that my cabbie clearly fancied himself as a Nascar champion, and drove accordingly. I clung to the strap as we raced back to my apartment, eyelids drooping. Job done, and time for bed!
Hey y'all, it's Kasia the Intern here again. I wonder if you're facing the same dilemma as I am this weekend; I want to go shopping for that perfect outfit, but I don't have any money and my closet (well, OK, my nails in the wall- it's a sublet) is already full of stuff I never wear anyways.
RightRides to the rescue once again! Not only will RightRides drive you home for FREE this Saturday night (between 12 am and 3 am), but we're also hosting a mega Clothing Swap at The Delancey this Sunday (July 13) from 4 pm to 7.30 pm.
The way a clothing swap works is you bring those clothes that you bought and thought would be great, but then ended up actually being too big/too small/the wrong shade for your skin/waaay to short, and then you trade 'em for clothes that are just right for you! Best thing is, it'll only cost you $5 at the door, AND your swapping will be accompanied by performances from the fab DJ Codec and side show queen the Lady Aye.
This event will be perfect for bargain queens, eco warriors, and all of you who want something different and fun to do for $5! I'll be there swapping, snapping pictures and getting ready to blog about it first thing Monday morning (I love my job). See you there!
When Oraia and Erin hired me as the summer intern for RightRides, I was thrilled to pack my bags and leave my native Toronto for a summer adventure, fighting sexual violence in the Big Apple! It’s only been a few weeks, but in that short time I’ve discovered Brooklyn and become an entrenched Brooklynite (shout out to South 9th and Bedford!), saw the Murakami exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum, been to so many free concerts and events, and have spent hours looking for the best and cheapest sushi place in the Five Boroughs (I’m still looking if you’d like to help…)
I’ve also had a crash course about the inner, everyday workings of RightRides from Erin, and have jumped in feet first, learning and helping in any way I can. The first two weeks I focused entirely on RightRides’ newest program, the Community Action News Network. CANN is going to be a great way to reach out to high school students and young people, letting them speak with their own voices through short video pieces addressing the causes, effects and atrocities of gender-based violence.
This is a program I’m really excited about because of my own experience with video; in 2006, I was lucky enough to get to go to Zambia with 10 fellow students and make a documentary about the lives of teenagers there. Not only did I learn an immense amount about development and humanity from studying the content of the film and meeting people with mind-boggling courage and intelligence, but for the first time I felt empowered as an activist. It’s a great feeling which I hope will be felt by our CANN creators.
I did a lot of research, made a lot of calls- I even made a YouTube video (how embarrassing!)- and now have some great women on CANN’s Advisory Board. Some have a background in media advocacy, some in film and television production, some in education, some are youth advisors, but all have committed their time and expertise to CANN, and I’m very excited for our first meeting, where I’ll get to be in a room filled with amazing people! And, of course, we’ll start creating the CANN curriculum with the decades of collective field experience that these women have.
While I’m gearing up for the first CANN Advisory Board meeting, I’ve also been working on other things. I just finished revamping our Dispatcher and Volunteer Manuals (with a little help from Word Art, thank you very much) and I hope my acute sense of grammar has contributed something. I’m also helping to get donations from businesses for the RightRides Social’s Silent Auction (September 18th at The Delancey, details to follow), and I won’t give anything away BUT, trust me, you want to be there. The deals will be as good as the like-new condition, black suede Ferragamo power-heels I just snagged for $50 (if that’s even possible- I love New York!)
I also went out in the field, so to speak, and hit the streets in a ZipCar Prius with RightRides volunteer extraordinaire Toby a few Saturday nights ago. I saw so much more of the city than I had managed to see in the previous few weeks! We went over several bridges several times, driving people from Williamsburg to SunsetPark, from the Bowery to Park Slope… I was the Navigator, but luckily (for everyone involved) Toby knew the streets of NYC’s Five Boroughs off the top of his head- I’ve got a terrible sense of direction but was unafraid; I was armed with many maps from our nifty Team Gold (or which color were we?) bag, and in constant contact with the Dispatcher Rachel, who was ready to track us through the GPS in our RightRides phone and show us the way from her computer! I must admit though, we missed a turn off and almost ended up in Long Island because I was engrossed in a conversation with our Riders, but they were very gracious anyways, and we got them home in plenty of time to get back to Chelsea and return the car before the 4.30 a.m. deadline. Plus, I had a great excuse to sleep in until noon on Sunday and go out for brunch- I had just spent all night saving the world! One safe ride home at a time…
Behold! Our shiny new Volunteer of the Month. Liz Schroeter joined RightRides in January of this year and has been our star rookie. Not only has Liz been a great driver for RightRides, she has also been instrumental in planning our Get to Know Your Borough: Brooklyn Bike Ride. She's gotten the Ride sponsored by Gimme Coffee! and Habana Outpost so there will be free coffee and corn for all our volunteer-riders! Liz also managed to snag us an event listing in Bust Magazine- is there anything she can't do?
"Volunteering for me was a no-brainer," Liz told us when we asked why she joined up. "I probably call on RightRides for a free, safe lift home once a month, how could I not do my part by also becoming a driver? Besides that, it's kind of fun to drive around the city at night, especially on Saturdays when it's extra alive and teeming with activity. It's satisfying to get some people home safely and then wake up Sunday morning feeling warm and fuzzy instead of hungover!"
Well, Liz, you make us all warm and fuzzy. Thanks so much for your hard work!
*Morgan P. has volunteered for 2 years with RightRides and was one of the recipients of the Distinguished Defender award in 2006. The below submission was inspired by her navigator shift on 6/7/2008. To share your RightRides experiences with the world just send you story to erin@rightrides.org.
On The Road ep. 1 By Morgan P. (RR Volunteer)
I've been volunteering with RightRides for about two years, and I did a new thing last Saturday: I volunteered with someone I didn't know. This may be no big deal to many of the singleton volunteers out there, but I always volunteer with my partner. She drives, I navigate, or the other way around, and we make a really good Dispatch team (I get the callers, she gets the volunteers).
Not last week. There was an opening, and it would make the difference of a car if I could do it...so I said OK. I was a little nervous - I'd have to figure out who Toby was, and hopefully he was a good driver, and was OK with my laid-back navigating style (I don't really have a preference for driving through Brooklyn or on the BQE to get from Williamsburg to Park Slope, depends on where we are and what we feel like...). And what did he think of snacking in the car? I figured just to be on the safe side, I'd munch on my way over.
I got to the garage (five minutes later than I had hoped due to the wretchedness of the 8th Avenue line), and saw someone walking away from the trunk with the green bag. I was the green navigator - I knew that must be Toby. We introduced ourselves, and I was reminded of one of the reasons I really like RightRides - the volunteers rock! It takes a special person to give up a Friday night to make sure people get home OK, and it was really fun to get to know another volunteer.
We took six women home, drove over the Williamsburg Bridge six times, and got to know a little more about each other. Turns out, we feel much the same way about gentrification, the financial district, and banana chips. And while there wasn't the same vibe of driving around listening to the radio that I usually get, there was this really fun getting to know someone who I probably never would have in another setting. I guess it doesn't have to be the first date to get the jitters!
So I guess this is the first post on this blog. It's always a bit strange to just start typing like this but at the same time I'm hoping to accomplish some pretty powerful things here.
I guess starting with an introduction is always a good idea. My name is Erin Armstrong and I am the Program Manager at RightRides for Womens Safety. For those of you who don't know about RightRides, we're a small non-profit based out of Brooklyn that runs several programs to help prevent sexual assault and gender based violence. Our primary program (RightRides) provides a free, safe, late-night ride home to women, transfolk and gender queer individuals on Saturday nights between Midnight and 3:00 AM. And to answer your question, ya... it's really free. We offer this service as a direct effort to prevent rape and sexual assault and so far have given nearly 1,500 rides home. But what I really wanted to talk about today are the goals that I hope to accomplish via this blog.
Anyone that knows me knows that I am a HUGE FAN (notice the caps) of user generated content. Whether it's creating videos or posting a blog I love the power that user generated content gives to the people. No longer are we forced to watch what the networks think we want, or read what the newspapers think we should know... this is the generation where everyone has a voice, and we're going to use it!
So what does user generated content have to do with RightRides? Well, in the spirit of openness, we want to give a voice to our volunteers and riders. The content that you're going to see in this blog is going to be created/written/recorded/performed by the people who serve and are served by RightRides.
For instance, about 4 months ago I had my first volunteer shift as a driver. I'd been navigating and dispatching for RR for the past year and a half, but this was my first time behind the wheel, and I was very excited about it. That night there were only 2 driving teams (usually there are 4-5) so I knew it was going to be busy. About halfway through the night we picked up this girl in Harlem. She was going to Brooklyn Heights, which would have taken her well over an hour on the train (not to mention she would have needed to transfer twice). Along the way she started telling us about how she'd been robbed on the train while making that same journey the previous weekend. It was late and she'd fallen asleep on the train, when she woke up her bag straps had been cut and her purse was missing, and for what? the $10 she had in her wallet and her cell phone...
About 5 minutes into the ride she fell asleep in car... which is very understandable because the only way I was able to stay awake was with a very large mug of coffee. It was at that moment that I ACTUALLY realized why this service is so important to people. Granted a purse snatching is a fairly minor incident, but what would have happened is she'd woken up while this person was cutting (presumably with a knife) through her pursue strap? Violence like this can be preventable, but in order to stop it we need people to stand up and say "I'VE HAD ENOUGH!" and actually do something about it. Talk without actions isn't going to solve the problem... getting out on the streets and physically making our city a safer place is. That's why I volunteer for RightRides.
I want to put a face on RightRides. It is stories like this that make it all worth while, and show the true character of an organization. This is the call out to our volunteers as well as the people who use our services to share your story! For our volunteers, what keeps your coming out week after weekend in the middle of the night... what drives you? For our riders, how has this service helped make your life safer? Why is it important to you to get home safe?
Every weekend new stories are made as our volunteer teams criss-cross the city getting people home safely. To share your story write it down, make a video, paint a picture and send it to erin@rightrides.org. I'll be reviewing and posting all submissions within 24 hours of receiving them.
The mission of RightRides For Women's Safety, Inc. is to build safer communities by reducing the risk of harassment and sexual assault by community organizing, offering direct service programs, plus fostering greater safety awareness and individual empowerment in our related educational programs.
In our central program, RightRides offers women, transgender and gender queer individuals a free, safe, late night ride home on Saturday nights from 11:59 PM - 3 AM, early Sunday morning in 35 NYC neighborhoods. To get a ride simply call 1-888-215-SAFE(7233) during the hours of operation.
On the right, you can see our expansion map for Brooklyn. We're happy to announce that Brooklyn College is also included in our new service area.
