Hundreds of area residents turned out Tuesday night in Delaware Park in Buffalo to mourn the loss of Maksym Sugorovsky, the three-year-old killed when he was struck by a car that left the Scajaquada Expressway and ran onto the park's ring road.
Sugorovsky was described as a lover of Kermit the Frog, the color green, and a nice kid.
Among those on hand for the vigil was a Sugorovsky family cousin, Rachel Cantor.
"Everything we do or don't do is a choice. You can only turn left if you don't turn right," Cantor said. "Saturday should be a reminder of that. My cousin had a beautiful child and most of what I know about him has only been what I have learned in the past few days."
Reverend Jason Vansuch of Saint George Orthodox Church, which sits on the park's edge, offered a bittersweet reminder to the crowd.
"When you talk to your children, just explain to them the importance of life, the importance of safety, the importance of love, and value your family and your friendships and every moment of your life. One saying that we have in church is, 'The same God that gave us this morning didn't promise us this afternoon.' So we never know what can happen tonight. We must cherish every moment that god gives us," said Vansuch.
Carrying lit candles and towing balloons, participants in the vigil heard speakers and then walked along Ring Road to Jewett Avenue along Parkside Avenue, and then to a memorial to the three-year-old on the outside of Jersey barriers. The barriers were installed on Monday to separate traffic from the park. The speed limit was also lowered to 30-miles per hour.
State Assemblyman Sean Ryan said that the new speed limit will be permanent. Ryan released a statement, after meeting with Phil Eng, Chief Engineer of the New York State Department of Transportation. Part of it read:
“This is a great step forward, and I am very thankful that Governor Cuomo and the DOT have been decisive in making this change. I will be having more meetings tomorrow to continue the discussion on how the DOT can quickly put traffic calming measures into place to adjust traffic to the new 30mph speed limit."
Kearns wrote that the ultimate goal is to turn the expressway into a parkway.
