As is the custom in New York, people are leaving Korean market flowers on the lamp post at Carroll Street and 8th Avenue in memoriam for a biker who was killed there last week. The Brooklyn Paper had this report.
Witnesses said Jonathan Millstein, who lived in Boerum Hill with his wife and
two sons, had been wearing a helmet during his crash, which occurred
just after 8 am. There were no children on board the bus that killed
him, and police did not issue a summons or arrest the driver, cops said.
At first I didn’t make the connection. But then I did. Jonathan Millstein, 50, was a friend of a friend of mine at the New Lincoln School, a private high school in Manhattan. He was Johnny; Johnny Millstein. I met him at Westbeth, where my friend lived. .
Then he married another childhood friend. He and his wife, Emily, owned a shop called Design East in the East Village. They were famous for their Regular t-shirt that a lot of people wore in the 1980’s: A nice silkscreen of a Greek coffee shop coffee cup. Underneath it said "Regular."
I loved their shop and their designs.
They were pioneering people. A t-shirt and silkscreen shop in a building on Second Avenue near Houston Street settled by squatters, where they sold their own designs. A cool and ironic t-shirt that sold well. Early settlers in Brooklyn.
Millstein was also known for helping out troubled teens. An article in the Daily News has a nice tribute.
A beloved Brooklyn
man known for giving struggling young men a second chance was killed
Wednesday when he was hit by a bus while cycling, cops said.Jonathan Millstein, 50, suffered massive head wounds when slammed by an empty school bus while biking in Park Slope at 8:15a.m., police said.
Millstein, who owns a silkscreen design and printing shop in Manhattan,
apparently rode through a red light at President St. and Eighth Ave.
when the school bus barreled into him, witnesses told police."I’m shocked that he died in such a horrible fashion," said Steve Herrick, 47, a friend who knew Millstein from the building where he runs Works In Progress NYC, a company that designs and prints graphics.
Millstein, a father of two who lived with his wife, Emily, in downtown Brooklyn, was known for employing teenagers and young men from programs for troubled youth.
"Jon was a really nice guy," said Selassie Samuel, 22, a former intern at the victim’s shop. "He was a lenient boss as long as you got the job done."
I’ve known Johnny since he was 15 years old. He was my step-brothers’ half-brother. He was a terrific person, and I viewed him as the `kid brother’ I never had. As an adolescent, he used to get such a thrill out of riding in my MGB. Even as an adult, he loved sports cars. Although we had lost track of eachother for some years, we reconnected over three years ago. I’m so grateful for the little time that I was able to spend with Jon and his family. He was a wonderful human being, and I know that I will never get over this tragedy. As an adult, he preferred to be called Jon, I will always think of him as Johnny. My heart goes out to Emily and the boys.
a light bulb in my pocket in April: I was at a party. I didn’t know anyone there. I stood in a hallway against a wall. I think I had a drink in my hand. If I did then I drank the drink. If I didn’t then I stood against the wall and did nothing. There was a lamp in the hallway. No one else was in the hallway. Everyone was in the living room. I went down the hallway and unscrewed the light bulb from the lamp and put it in my pocket. I did not stay at the party. I went back to my room. There was a lamp on my desk. It was sad. It did not work anymore. I sat down at my desk. The lamp said, “How was your night?” It was depressed because it could not go to parties and did not work as a lamp anymore. I said, “I am not good at parties.” The lamp said, “I’m sorry.” “It’s okay,” I said and pulled out the light bulb. The lamp on my desk was happy again.
The lamp said:
http://everydayyeah.com/content/number-twenty-five#comment-969
Thank you so much for posting and for the nice comments about Jon.
Jon was my great great friend. We became friends when he began screen printing for me over 15 years ago. He was an amazing person – I don’t think I have ever met anyone with his level of exuberance. He was full of life – that is why this is so hard for me to process.
I didn’t know him back in the days when he was Johnny. I wish I had.
Thanks again for posting.
Ellen Oxhorn
He was such a wonderful guy. This is a terrible loss.