Like leaders of a SWAT team, Edward and Ricky came barreling towards me on the bridge Monday morning around 11:20am dressed in matching black Under Armour shirts and black, double-striped workout pants. Their faces were intense. Their concentrations, focused. And yet, I couldn’t help stopping them to ask, “What’s up with the twin getup?”
“We’re boxing partners,” said Edward. Obviously.
Both originally from Bushwick, Edward (24) and Ricky (23) lived in the same neighborhood for years before they started connecting over their passion for a sport that requires intense dedication and training. Though Ricky now lives in New Brunswick , NJ, the friends often use the Williamsburg Bridge as their bootcamp grounds, running back and forth from Manhattan to Brooklyn, conquering the structure’s steep inclines, bracing against its downhill slopes, and zipping through its short, forgiving middle as two side by side streaks of black.
The Vinny Abate Era officially came to a close on Tuesday night in Williamsburg, after a turbulent meeting that had to be one of the wilder ones in the chairman’s nearly 30-year tenure. The night’s agenda included the city’s controversial Broadway Triangle plan, the city’s controversial Kent Ave bike lane plan, and the closely-contested (but not as controversial) election of Abate’s successor.
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