After fatal stabbing of jogger, lawmakers and community call for better lighting and safety on Shore Parkway Greenway • Brooklyn Paper

A suspect, 27-year-old Sayed Mohassib, was taken into custody on Nov. 7 and charged with second-degree murder, tampering with physical evidence and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon in connection with Suarez’s death.

At a Nov. 10 press conference along the Shore Parkway Greenway beneath the Verrazano Bridge, state Sen. Andrew Gounardes, Council Member Kayla Santosuosso, advocates and runners from Ridge Runners and Bike South Brooklyn called on the city to include lighting in its planned renovation of the greenway. They also urged officials to pursue interim solutions, such as installing solar lights or connecting lighting to nearby existing infrastructure.

Santosuosso noted that a one-mile stretch between the Verrazano Bridge and Caesar’s Bay — the area where Suarez was killed — has no lighting.

“Our neighbors have been asking for better lighting on this promenade since long before Andrew or I took office, and now it is time to make it happen in Katie’s name,” Santosuosso said. “The good news is we have plenty of ways we can make this happen. This entire promenade is set to be renovated in the coming years. Lighting should and must be a part of that plan.”

In the meantime, Santosuosso suggested increasing lighting along the Belt Parkway to provide secondary illumination for the path, adding lights to the yet-to-be-completed 17th Avenue pedestrian bridge and installing solar-powered lights along the promenade.

“There are myriad options for how to make this promenade safer, starting tomorrow and in the years to come. Doing this doesn’t just prevent horrific incidents like the one that happened to Katie. It also prevents injury and will encourage more usage of this beautiful promenade.”

Santosuosso said that lighting was not only a safety concern along the promenade but throughout southern Brooklyn.

Last month, Gounardes, Santosuosso and Brooklyn Community Board 10 District Manager Josephine Beckmann wrote a letter to the NYC Department of Transportation detailing a backlog of streetlight repairs in the area. Their survey found that 137 streetlights were out of service in Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights, with some broken for nearly a year.

While the DOT has completed some repairs, the situation should never have reached the point where so many streetlights were out of service, Santosuosso said.

“If we are serious about safety, we should be serious about lighting our streets. We want to see quick repairs on our streets and on streets across the city because it’s pretty simple.”

Gounardes, who secured more than $50 million in city and state funding alongside then-Council Member Justin Brannan two years ago to support efforts to revitalize waterfront parks in Bay Ridge, said one runner calculated that a 1.3-mile stretch of the promenade was completely dark. He called on the city to install lighting along the entire promenade as part of the renovation, starting with the sections that currently have no illumination.

“There is no lighting, and you’re too far from the highway to have any secondary light effects to shine the path that people are using,” Gounardes said, adding that the focus should not be on why people are running in the dark, but on why the path is not safer.

“People behind us have been training for marathons and half marathons and 5Ks. Sometimes they get up at 4 o’clock in the morning or 5 o’clock in the morning. That’s the only time they have to get out there and exercise to do their training because everyone here leads busy lives,” Gounardes explained. “This should be safe 24 hours a day. Lighting the promenade is not rocket science. It should not be this difficult. It should be very simple.”

He also urged the city to follow through on its commitment to repair streetlights that have been out, noting that data from the Mayor’s Management Report shows that streetlight repair times have increased over the past six months.

“We’re not here to point fingers, and we’re not here to cast blame. We just want the lights fixed because this is a top issue that we hear from our constituents, both who use the promenade, who live in our community, who just want to feel safe, and who believe, as we do, that lighting does in fact equal safety.”

Kristen Pettit, a member of Ridge Runners Club NYC, said the promenade is an important community resource, but its dark, narrow and obstructed sections leave runners vulnerable, particularly in the early morning and evening hours. The risks are especially concerning for women and those running alone, she said.

“We are calling on the governor, the mayor, the New York State and New York City Departments of Transportation, and the New York City Parks Department to fix this dangerous situation, not just for runners, but also for the moms, kids, and seniors who enjoy this path. We ask that you do it now, and that it be done in Katie’s memory,” Pettit said. “We knew that Katie could have been any one of us, and as a runner, she was one of us.”

Ridge Runners Club NYC member and marathon runner Jill Reda told Brooklyn Paper that safety was the club’s top priority, emphasizing the importance of running in groups. However, scheduling conflicts sometimes forced runners to head out alone, which can be unsettling, particularly for women.

“Catcalling is the ‘easiest,’ you know. But then there are certainly times that you feel like you’re being followed. It’s not fair to constantly be looking behind you. You can’t run with music; it can be very, very stressful. People should be able to get out and exercise and have a good time and not worry.”