BROOKLYN CLOSEUP
 

By Gayle Cinquegrani
Newsday, August 9, 1990

Dexter Benjamin rides his bicycle about 75 miles each workday in his job as a messenger for Unique Courier.

"I ride hard," said Benjamin, of Flatbush. "The only problem I have is when I go up hills. I go up slow, but I still go up."

Working hard is not new to Benjamin, who lost his leg in a cycling accident in his native Trinidad. After the accident, he came to New York to run in the marathon  -  on crutches.

Benjamin described his bike as a "fix" because it has been altered by a bicycle mechanic. The bike has only one pedal, which is on the left side. Benjamin mounts the bike with his left leg and swings his right leg  -  which goes only to mid-thigh  -  over the right side. He ties his crutches to the right side of the bicycle bar after carefully wrapping them in rubber from a bicycle tube so they will not scratch the bike's paint.

Benjamin has been a courier for about five months. Referred to Unique Courier by a friend who worked there, Benjamin asked the superviser, Stephen Alexis, to let him prove himself.

"When I went to the guy, he just asked me how would I do it. I told him I had a bike. He was surprised," Benjamin recalled. "I told him to give me a try for a week."

Benjamin has been there ever since, even during a period when he didn't have a bike. His bike was stolen from in front of a building where he was making a delivery, he said. "I had to walk for a couple of weeks until I could get a bike again."

Kevin Lessington, a friend of Benjamin's and a fellow courier, said, "This guy's amazing. He rides through rain, sleet, or snow. He can go from east to west, from river to river."

Despite his hard work, Benjamin said, he usually does not complete quite as many runs, or pick-ups and deliveries, as the other couriers. "I have to leave my bike, unwrap my crutches, and go upstairs, so I take more time," he said. But he does not get discouraged. "I love bikes. I love riding," he said.

He became familiar with New York after his accident when he came here to run in the New York City Marathon, using his left leg and two crutches. He has competed in the marathon four times.

He said he planned to participate again this fall, but he said he would like to try boxing after that. Before Benjamin lost his leg, he said, he participated in track and field sports and weightlifting.

Some can't hide their surprise when they learn his accomplishments. Often when he arrives at an office to deliver a letter, he said, "People say, `Are you our messenger?' I say, `Yeah.' They say, `You ride a bike?' I say, `Yeah.' "