Clients, friends, and admirers of Jay "Rocket" Ruiz have met the $3,000 fund raising goal set up on gofundme.com to help him pay his medical bills. Jay is the president of Brooklyn Bike Patrol (BBP), the all-volunteer organization he founded two years ago to safeguard the women of Brooklyn against an epidemic of sexual assaults by providing them with a safe walk home.
Jay survived a heart attack this summer on June 8th and a second one on June 10th. A few days later, he unhappily announced the end of BBP. On July 2nd, he had recuperated enough to announce that BBP would return. And on August 2nd, he and his loyal agents were back on track.
But last week, on August 9th, Jay passed out on the subway. He had to have a defibrillator implanted. Our uninsured Brooklyn hero will have more medical bills to pay, so another fund raiser may be needed. We'll let you know if Jay, the helper, needs help.
Jay Ruiz founded Brooklyn Bike Patrol on September 14, 2011, because he saw a TV news segment about the sexual assaults being committed against women in Brooklyn and knew he had to help prevent the continuation of this crime wave. He started walking women home from subway stations late at night.
That's how Brooklyn Bike Patrol started out--one man riding one bike to a handful of subway stations and making himself available to walk one woman home at a time. Now Jay and his agents service all of these neighborhoods:
- Bedford Stuyvesant,
- Bensonhurst,
- Borough Park,
- Brooklyn Heights,
- Bushwick,
- Carroll Garden,
- Clinton Hill,
- Ditnas Park,
- Dumbo,
- Dyker Heights,
- Ft. Greene,
- Greenpoint,
- Kensington,
- Park Slope,
- Propect Heights,
- Red Hook,
- Sunset Park,
- Williamsburg, and
- Windsor Terrace.
Jay had recently been screening potential volunteers. He'd like to interview some more. To volunteer for BBP, send an e-mail to brooklynbikepatrol [at] gmail [dot] com.
Before Jay's initial hospitalization, Brooklyn Bike Patrol operated its free service Sundays through Thursdays from 8:00 p.m. to midnight and on Fridays and Saturdays from 10:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m. Since their return on August 2nd, BBP agents have been escorting people home on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. In September, they'll resume their 7-days-per-week schedule.
Call (718) 744-7592 to pre-arrange for an agent to meet you at a subway station or elsewhere. Call BBP 45 minutes before you expect to arrive at the station.
E-mail: BrooklynBikePatrol [at] gmail [dot] com