We’ve assembled a survey on school safety around schools in Queens. Please participate and distribute this survey to Queens families. It doesn’t matter if your kid attends school outside of Queens, or if it’s a private school, Pre-K program or high school.

This survey will help guide our advocacy and recommend changes to the school safety environment, via elected officials, the Department of Transportation and the Department of Education. Already, we are learning that school safety agents are often at risk, though officially, they are not charged with traffic safety in their job description!

Fill our our traffic survey here.

Thanks for your participation!

Fatalities. There were two traffic fatalities in Queens in September. The neighbors we lost included:

• Sade Eversley (22), motorcycle passenger killed after falling off and being struck by two cars at Belt Parkway and Cross Bay Blvd. in Howard Beach
• Unidentified male (38), motorcycle driver killed after striking sign and utility pole near Cypress Hill St. and Jackie Robinson Pkwy in Glendale

In the 12 months ending September 2015, there have been 66 overall traffic fatalities in Queens, down 29% from the 93 people killed in 2013, the Vision Zero benchmark year. Citywide, there has been a 23% decline in fatalities.

Injuries. In the 12 months ending in September 2015, there have been 2,400 pedestrians injured in Queens by motor vehicles, a decline of 14% from the Vision Zero benchmark year, 2013. In the same time, there have been 906 injuries to cyclists, a rise of 10% since 2013. Overall, including motor vehicle occupants, there have been 15,334 people injured in motor vehicle crashes in Queens over the past year, down 1% since 2013. Citywide, there has been a 8% reduction in injuries. While pedestrian injuries have continued to fall in Queens, injuries to cyclists have been rising, likely the result of more cyclists on the road. Injuries to motorists and passengers has also been rising recently, and now exceed 2013 levels.

Enforcement. Overall, while enforcement of speeding, red light running, and not giving right of way to pedestrians remains significantly higher than pre-Vision Zero levels, tickets issued for illegal cell phone use, an important contributor to distracted driving, remains sharply down. Overall, enforcement across all four categories is down 1% since 2013.

See our full report here, including results by borough and community board.

2nd Annual Family Zombie Ride
Hosted by Kidical Mass NYC
Saturday, Octrober 24, 2015 at 9:30am
Gantry Plaza State Park, Long Island City, Queens

Just in time for Halloween, the Zombie ride is about 7 miles through Long Island City and Astoria, with stops at Brooklyn Grange, and Coffeed, and passing by the Museum of the Moving Image, Rainey Park and possibly Roosevelt Island. We will end at Socrates Park in time to enjoy the Fall Festival. Folks should arrange their own travel back from Socrates. Please bring a lock for your bike if you plan to enjoy the festival. This ride will be escorted by our local precincts, but children should have at least intermediate biking skills and feel safe and comfortable riding on the road. Age 7 and up.

Streetsblog has the background on why this third community forum is happening: Francisco Moya’s Hush-Hush 111th Street Meeting Now Open to the Public.

Please come and show your support for a safer 111th Street and better access to Flushing Meadows Corona Park!

The forum will be held Monday, October 5th, 7-9 pm, at St. Leo’s Parish Church, 104-05 49th Avenue in Corona.

Fatalities. There were seven traffic fatalities in Queens in August, including two vehicle occupants, one motorcyclist, one bicyclist and three pedestrians. The neighbors we lost included:

• Donald Angrum (60), driver of a car involved in a two-car crash on Rockaway Blvd. near JFK Airport
• Unidentified Male (61), pedestrian killed while crossing the street in Middle Village
• Lamont C. Smart, Jr. (21), passenger killed in a three-car crash in Springfield Gardens
• Amit Roy (55), pedestrian killed by reversing taxi in Jackson Heights
• Unidentified Male (61), cyclist killed in collision with truck in Far Rockaway
• Stephen-John Salmon (22), motorcyclist killed by SUV in Rochdale
• Unidentified Male (34), pedestrian killed by car in Queensboro Hill

In the 12 months ending August 2015, there have been 71 overall traffic fatalities in Queens, down 24% from the 93 people killed in 2013, the Vision Zero benchmark year. Citywide, there has been a 19% decline in fatalities.

Injuries. In the 12 months ending in August 2015, there have been 2,387 pedestrians injured in Queens by motor vehicles, a decline of 15% from the Vision Zero benchmark year, 2013. In the same time, there have been 897 injuries to cyclists, a rise of 9% since 2013. Overall, including motor vehicle occupants, there have been 15,231 people injured in motor vehicle crashes in Queens over the past year, down 2% since 2013.  Citywide, there has been a 8% reduction in injuries.  While pedestrian injuries have continued to fall in Queens, injuries to cyclists have been rising, likely the result of more cyclists on the road.   Injuries to motorists and passengers has also been rising recently.

Enforcement.   This month’s highlight on the enforcement front was from the 108th Precinct (Community Board 2 in Woodside and Sunnyside), which increased ticketing across all four of the areas were tracking: speeding, red light running, illegal cell phone use, and failure to yield to pedestrians.  Other highlights included ticketing of drivers who fail to obey a red signal by 101st and 106th Precincts; ticking of illegal cell phone use by the 105th Precinct; and ticketing of speeding by the 113th Precinct.

Overall, including the four categories we’re tracking, there was a 20% increase in enforcement actions in Queens in August compared with July of this year.  In the rest of the city, enforcement actions rose by 5.3 percent.

See our full report here, including results by borough and community board.

Fatalities. There were nine traffic fatalities in Queens in July, including five vehicle occupants, two motorcyclists, one bicyclist and one pedestrian. The neighbors we lost included:

• Susana Ha (42) and Angelica Ung (10), passengers in a car struck by a speeding SUV in Bayside
• Troy Smith (41), driver killed in a single car crash in Rochdale
• Unidentified Male, pedestrian killed on Belt Parkway in Rochdale
• Garth Jackson (50), passenger killed in two-car crash in Cambria Heights
• Aron Aranbayev (40), pedestrian killed in hit and run in Forest Hills
• Unidentified Male (37), motorcyclist killed in collision with car in Kew Gardens
• Adelso Espinal (32), motorcyclist killed by car after crashing in Hillcrest
• Kevin Lopez (18), cyclist killed by car in Long Island City

In the 12 months ending July 2015, there have been 77 overall traffic fatalities in Queens, down 17% from the 93 people killed in 2013, the Vision Zero benchmark year. Citywide, there has been a 19% decline in fatalities.

Injuries. In the 12 months ending in July 2015, there have been 2,392 pedestrians injured in Queens by motor vehicles, a decline of 15% from the Vision Zero benchmark year, 2013. In the same time, there have been 864 injuries to cyclists, a rise of 5% since 2013. Overall, including motor vehicle occupants, there have been 15,079 people injured in motor vehicle crashes in Queens over the past year, down 3% since 2013.  Citywide, there has been a 8% reduction in injuries.  While pedestrian injuries have continued to fall in Queens, injuries to cyclists have been rising, likely the result of more cyclists on the road.   Injuries to motorists and passengers has also been rising recently.

Enforcement.  After NYPD’s big June surge in Vision Zero-related traffic enforcement, July saw a significant drop-off in enforcement actions against driving behaviors that put other road users at risk.  Overall, including the four categories we’re tracking (Illegal Cell Phone Use, Disobeying Red Signal, Not Giving Way to Pedestrians, and Speeding), there was a 35% reduction in enforcement actions in Queens in July compared with June of this year.  In the rest of the city, enforcement actions fell only 11%, in part due to an uptick in speeding enforcement not seen in Queens.

See our full report here, including results by borough and community board.

Julissa Ferreras is hosting a second forum for the community to discuss and ask questions about DOT’s proposal for a safer 111th Street on July 29th, 2015 at 6-8 pm at the NY Hall of Science.   The meeting is cosponsored by Councilmember Daniel Dromm, Community Board 4, the Partnership for a Healthier Queens, Immigrant Movement International, Make the Road New York, Transportation Alternatives, and Make Queens Safer.   If you live near Flushing Meadows Corona Park, or are a frequent user of the park via the 111th Street, please try to make it to this important meeting to show support for the proposal.

Fatalities. There were four traffic fatalities in Queens in June, including two vehicle occupants, one motorcyclist and one pedestrian. The neighbors we lost included an unidentified 62-year-old man, who died in a single car crash in Jamaica Hills; Louis Benjamin, a 39-year-old who died in a single car crash in Rosedale; Betty Jean DiBiasio, a 21-year-old pedestrian killed by a hit-and-run driver in Astoria, and Izayha Felder, a 19-year-old motorcyclists killed in a crash in St. Albans.  In the 12 months ending June 2015, there have been 79 overall traffic fatalities in Queens, down 15% from the 93 people killed in 2013, the Vision Zero benchmark year. Citywide, there has been a 16% decline in fatalities.

Injuries. In the 12 months ending in June 2015, there have been 2,381 pedestrians injured in Queens by motor vehicles, a decline of 15% from the Vision Zero benchmark year, 2013. In the same time, there have been 855 injuries to cyclists, a rise of 4% since 2013. Overall, including motor vehicle occupants, there have been 14,971 people injured in motor vehicle crashes in Queens over the past year, down 4% since 2013.  Citywide, there has been a 9% reduction in injuries.  While pedestrian injuries have continued to fall in Queens, injuries to cyclists have been rising, likely the result of more cyclists on the road.   Injuries to motorists and passengers has also been rising.

Enforcement.  In June, many precincts across Queens significantly stepped up enforcement actions against driving behaviors that put other road users at risk.   Highlights of Vision Zero enforcement in June included citations for red light running in the 100th, 103rd, 104th, 106th, 108th, 110th, 112th, 114th, and 115th Precincts; speeding in the 105th, 112th, and 113th Precincts; and cell phone use in the 104th Precinct; and failure to yield to pedestrians in the 104th, 105th, 109th, 110th, 111th, 112th, and 114^th Precincts.

The increased enforcement in June appeared to reverse an apparent trend in declining enforcement actions against these behaviors.   We hope NYPD keeps it up.  Enforcement actions against drivers using handheld cell phones continue to decline sharply.

See our full report here, including results by borough and community board.

Julissa Ferreras is hosting a Community Forum meeting for the community to discuss and ask questions about DOT’s proposal for a safer 111th Street on June 30th, 2015 at 4 pm at the NY Hall of Science.   Some members of Community Board 4 oppose the proposal, and the full Community Board is due to vote in September.  The meeting is cosponsored by Councilmember Daniel Dromm, Community Board 4, the Partnership for a Healthier Queens, Immigrant Movement International, Make the Road New York, Transportation Alternatives, and Make Queens Safer.   If you live near Flushing Meadows Corona Park, or are a frequent user of the park via the 111th Street, please try to make it to this important meeting.