"Since They Lost Sammy" By N.R Kleinfield

The New York Times article, "Since They Lost Sammy," by N.R Kleinfield is mainly about what Amy   

Cohen and Gary Eckstein have been doing to improve traffic safety in New York City. This article is roughly organized into four sections.

First, Kleinfield begins the article with a description of Amy Cohen recording car speeds and other statistics, and how she and Gary Eckstein are doing as much as they possibly can in order to dissolve traffic casualties. In the first section, the author also gives a brief background on how Sammy's family is doing.

In the second section, Kleinfield develops on how Sammy's death has made an impact on so many people. Kleinfield writes, "Mourners wondered what they could do. Sammy’s parents told them to write their representatives and urge traffic-safety measures." This relates back to Kleinfield’s main point of Sammy’s parents trying to make a difference in traffic conditions.

In the next section, Kleinfield focuses on Sammy’s death and how, on a personal level, it effected Amy and Gary’s campaign. “The ritual gave Ms. Cohen the idea to print a compact booklet of pictures depicting Sammy’s short life — on a swing, swimming, picking pumpkins — with an inscription exhorting action to make streets safer. This became their calling card.” This also relates back to Kleinfield’s main idea.

The final section is solely about Amy Cohen and Gary Eckstein trying to improve traffic conditions so that no one else gets hurt.

 Although Kleinfield is seemingly non-opinionated throughout the article, his use of examples and word choice, as well as his perspective on Sammy’s death turn the article into something like a red flag, saying that something has to be done about the traffic conditions in New York. The author also often pulls away from his main idea in order to write a brief anecdote about Sammy’s family and how they are dealing with their loss. This adds a personal feel to the story for the reader.

The structure in this article of the four sections helps organize the reader and helps keep the author’s main idea relevant. As Kleinfield progresses in his article, he also becomes more and more specific to his main idea.