Brooklyn Borough President

DESTINATION BROOKLYN: THREE TEACHERS SPEND SUMMER
VACATION CYCLING 3,200 MILES ACROSS U.S.A

In photo 1: Borough President Markowitz expresses his support for Mayor Bloomberg’s Brig conversion plan. Pictured from left to right are: State Assemblymember Joseph R. Lentol; Mayor Michael Bloomberg; Borough President Markowitz; Councilmember Letitia James; and HPD Commissioner Shaun Donovan.

Photographs by Kathryn Kirk

In photo left to right: Tim Williams, Neil Kempen, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz and Ed Drouin.

On Monday, August 2, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz joined Council Member Simcha Felder on the steps of Brooklyn Borough Hall to congratulate three teachers - Ed Drouin, 56, Tim Williams, 53, and Neil Kempen, 53 – for completing their 3,200-mile bicycle trek across the United States. To officially mark the end of their journey the cyclists rode to Coney Island yesterday to dip their front tires into the Atlantic.

After the final bell of the school year rang, the three men left the suburbs of Spokane, Washington on June 16 – destination Brooklyn. The bikers have averaged 80 miles per day, been on the road for 45 days - and have only taken 4 days off. In total, they have cycled 3,200 miles.

Ed Drouin is fulfilling his lifelong dream to ride to Brooklyn where his grandfather, Joseph Drouin was stationed in the Brooklyn Navy Yard during WWI. Joseph met his wife, Mary McGarry, in Prospect Park and they owned a deli in Brooklyn. Ed’s daughter, Erica and son-in-law, have returned to the roots of Ed’s grandfather, currently living in Park Slope.

The cycling team has been carrying the ashes of Susie Stephens who was killed on March 21, 2002. She was an avid cyclist and was killed by a city bus while crossing the street in St. Louis where she was giving a seminar on pedestrian and bike safety.