Accession Number: C.2015.57.5
Dimensions: 42 in X 28 in X 67 in
Dimensions (Metric): 106.68 cm X 71.12 cm X 170.18 cm
Credit Line: Collection 9/11 Memorial Museum, Transfer from the New-York Historical Society
Description
Canyon River brand men's mountain bike with blue-green metallic paint, straight handlebars, and eighteen gears. There is an aluminum rack mounted above the rear tire. The bike has three bunches of synthetic flowers secured to it. A bunch of orange and yellow roses is attached to the left handlebar and a bunch of red, white, and blue roses and carnations is attached to the right handlebar. Red roses with white flowers are attached to the rack directly behind the seat. A necklace and a rosary are twisted around the handlebars. The bike is slightly dusty.
Historical Notes
Locked to a street sign on Broadway near Cedar Street, a block from the World Trade Center, this abandoned bicycle soon became an impromptu shrine to the messengers and delivery persons presumed to have been killed at the World Trade Center. Flowers, coins, notes, and religious items were left at the memorial in the months that followed.