Getting Home Safely Just Got Easier!

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

Scavenger Hunt Winner

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.

Stay tuned for more RR.

~Erin

Call Me! (Well, call RightRides)

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!

Love,
Kasia the Intern.

Rachel Hill - August's Volunteer of the Month

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!

Fashion, cupcakes and RightRides, oh my!

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.

Riding for RightRides

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.

Clothing Swap Photos Are In!

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!