After founder Jay Ruiz’s second heart attack caused the volunteer safety service to shut down, the Brooklyn Bike Patrol will return on Friday, the Brooklyn Paper reported.
Ruiz, who is riding his bike again, said he is surprised that other bikers have not stepped up to the task of continuing his service – escorting women home from subway stops at night.
“Maybe people are afraid to ride outside alone,” he said. “It takes a very special kind of person.”
Ruiz exclusively told Patch in June that he would return after concentrating on keeping his stress levels, blood pressure and cholesterol down. His team didn’t feel it was right to continue the service without him.
“This is my baby, this is something I created and people loved it,” he said. “When I come back, I am going to be strong. I want to be back out there walking our women home. There have been no rapes while on our routes and I know we can prevent them.”
Ruiz is now looking to add seven escorts to his eight-person team.
The patrol will operate on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights until September, when it will operate every night of the week.
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