What's the Deal With... The Ari Halberstam Memorial Ramp

When I'm in a taxi going over the Brooklyn Bridge from the FDR Drive, I always notice a sign proclaiming the onramp to be the "Ari Halberstam Memorial Ramp". Who is this guy, and why did he get an onramp to a bridge named after him, of all things?

Ari Halberstam was killed on the Brooklyn Bridge on March 1, 1994 and former mayor Rudolph Giuliani named the Ari Halberstam Memorial Ramp in his honor. Ari was a 16 year-old Rabbinical student when a gunman, Rashid Baz, opened fire on a yeshiva van that Ari was riding in. He died 5 days after being shot in the head.

In addition to the ramp, there is also an Ari Halberstam memorial fund and sportsmanship award, and the Jewish Children's Museum in Brooklyn has been dedicated to him as well. Rashid Baz was sentenced to 141 years in prison for the attack, and Ari's family convinced the Justice Department to reclassify the shooting as an act of terror. The family continues to work with government officials to try to pass gun-control laws and anti-terrorism laws.

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By Janine Annett in Miscellaneous on April 5, 2005 12:03 PM

Comments [rss]

cnyc

Google is your friend.

Tim N.

Sold. He was a putz.

Wouldn't the deposit be needed to repair the bullet holes and windows?

Why am I thinking about this?

Thanks for the info.

Jonathan

Alright, I jumped to the conclusion that the ramp was very old news. Fair enough.

Rashid Baz shot through his rental van window and when he went to bring back the van, demanded his deposit be returned. He sat there for a long time while the rental clerk called police.

At least that was the story 11 years ago. =)

nony

A lot of people don't know why the ramp is named after Ari Halberstam; many people have indeed moved to NY since 1994 and this story really wasn't covered outside of NY.

Jonathan

That's reincarnation for ya. A frog, Ted Turner, an on-ramp; you never know what you are going to end up as...

Kojak

I think Ari would be pretty pissed that just a ramp was dedicated in his honor. Not to mention that picture on the front page of his website is less then flattering.

Tim N.

Alright. I'll bite.

How was the putz who shot up the van caught?

Jonathan

I guess. Perhaps I just have a way of remembering events such as these; plus the fact that this was such a crazy story (i.e. - how the putz who shot-up the van was caught).

Hmm

To be fair, it was 11 years ago. This person doesn't have to have "just moved to NYC" to not be aware of this particular news story.

Jonathan

Did you just move to NYC? I think everyone knows what happened that day and all of the discussions leading up to the naming of the ramp. The tragedy was a top news story for how many days/weeks?