BY DUSICA SUE MALESEVIC | Every weekend, Nancy and Robert Larson make the journey from their home in Manhasset, Long Island to tend the memorial that has become a way to keep their son’s memory alive.
The well-maintained tree and blooming bed commemorates 20-year-old Kyle Larson — an NYU student who, in November of 2012, was rushing to turn in a term paper when he was fatally hit by a delivery truck near the corner of Union Square West and E. 17th St. Witnesses reported seeing him swerve to avoid a bicyclist going the wrong way.
“We come in on Sunday mornings because it gives us a chance just to remember him for a few quiet moments,” Mrs. Larson told Chelsea Now on Sun., Aug. 2, seated with her husband at the new pedestrian plaza near where the accident happened. “He’s always in our thoughts. There isn’t a day that goes by that we don’t think of him countless times.”
The Larsons chose this particular tree, in front of the former Heartland Brewery and McDonald’s, because a few days after the accident, the New York Longboard Association held an event to honor Kyle, who had been riding his longboard (a type of skateboard) the day of the crash. The Larsons had found out about the memorial via Facebook.
“We almost weren’t going to come,” Mrs. Larson recalled. “It was really cold that day. It was the Saturday after Thanksgiving, and we came in. We were blown away. So many people showed up — there were at least a hundred people. None of them knew him. They just knew that he was a skateboarder that had been involved in an accident.”
People wrote beautiful messages in chalk, and the area around the tree was lit with candles, she said. The group also gave the Larsons a skateboard without wheels that they had painted with their son’s name. They keep it in their dining room because it is so special, said Mrs. Larson.
After that, the Larsons decided to make that tree the spot where they would continue to honor their son, as well as the group that showed so much kindness, she explained.
At the foot of the tree is a photograph of Kyle, sitting cross-legged in front of NYU’s University of French Institute. To the left of the photograph is his full name — Kyle Andrew Larson — and underneath, a quote that the Larsons found in his journal: “To the world you may be one person but to one person you may be the world.”
“NYU was his only choice. He didn’t want anything but NYU,” said Mrs. Larson. “He just loved the city. He loved this whole area, so that’s a blessing. I just know that he’s at peace here.”
The Larsons described their son as resilient and compassionate, always willing to reach out to others with problems.
“He helped other people,” said Mr. Larson.
Kyle loved skateboarding, video games, scuba driving, skiing and music.
“He was extremely talented. He played four instruments,” said Mrs. Larson.
A drum major for his high school marching band, Kyle also played clarinet, saxophone and guitar. He also sang.
“Sophomore year of high school, he discovered he had a voice,” she said. “And he was surprised, and he was so nervous to sing a cappella.”
Kyle wasn’t quite sure what he would major in at NYU, but he had a strong interest in sociology and philosophy.
“Everything reminds us of him,” said Mrs. Larson. “Every Sunday morning, we’re here. Bob and I are able to just have a few moments where we’re completely in touch with each other, and then with Kyle.”
Mr. Larson works in commercial real estate in Midtown and often comes during the week to check on the bed, and clean and water it.
“Somebody said to me the other day, ‘It was like a little oasis here in the park because of the flowers,’ ” he recalled.
Mrs. Larson, a nurse practitioner, said, “In the beginning, it was just such a mess. The earth is hard as a rock so we would work it.”
They worked in topsoil and fertilizer to make it easier for flowers and plants to grow, she explained. They’ve planted ivy, as well as whatever flowers Mrs. Larson happens to find at their neighborhood Whole Foods. In September, they’ll plant mums, then at Christmas, a small spruce, and pansies in the early spring.
They also put out candy canes during Christmas for children who walk by with their parents. Mrs. Larson said that they wanted to involve the different seasons and holidays, with the hope that when someone walks by, the picture of Kyle along with the flowers will “bring a smile to their day as they pass.”
“So many people have stopped,” she said. “So many people in the area who were there, or who pass it every day, stop and wish us well. They’ll say to us, ‘We say hi to Kyle every day when we walk by.’ ”
“It makes us feel good,” she continued. “Because as a parent the only thing that’s worse than not being able to have him in our lives is to think he’s forgotten. I don’t want that to happen.”
The Larsons have gotten to know many people who work near or at Union Square, including some of the vendors as well as managers and workers from nearby stores and restaurants. A young mother who lives in the neighborhood sent the Larsons an email, saying that the memorial gives her pause when she passes with her daughters.
Friends that come to the city take it upon themselves to water the flowers and send photos to them, said Mrs. Larson.
As part of their Sunday routine, they also send a photo of the memorial to their daughter, who now lives in Denver, and was close with her brother.
The Larsons said that if the tree at some point needs to be replaced, they would like to place a permanent marker there for Kyle.
“It’s about the memory — just about the memory,” said Mrs. Larson. “He was way too young. He was way too young.”
