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Vigil for Giovanni Ampuero

Last week, a driver struck and killed 9-year-old Giovanni Ampuero as he crossed Northern Boulevard in Jackson Heights.  The child was walking in the crosswalk holding his Mother’s hand, and had the right of way.  The driver left the scene of the crash and stopped ten blocks away after being chased down by another motorist.  He has been charged with leaving the scene, failure to yield to a pedestrian and failure to exercise due care.

On Saturday, community members joined Giovanni’s family to mourn the child’s death and to demand action to address the ongoing safety crisis on Northern Boulevard.  The vigil and march were led by Giovanni’s parents, grandmother, and brothers. Congressman Joseph Crowley, City Council Member Danny Dromm, and other community leaders spoke about the need for policy and design changes to make the city’s streets safer for everyone.  We thank the 115th Precinct for facilitating safe passage of the march.

Make Queens Safer, the Transportation Alternatives Queens Volunteer Committee, and Families For Safe Streets called for the following actions:

Here is some media coverage of the vigil:

Streetfilms, “Vigil for Giovanni Ampuero, 9-yr old killed on Northern Blvd” (May 6, 2018) 

Bill Parry, “Vigil scheduled for boy killed in Jackson Heights hit-and-run,” Times Ledger (May 4, 2018)

Univision, “Con una emotiva vigilia, homenajean al niño peruano que murió tras ser atropellado en Queens” (May 5, 2018) 

Shirley Chan, “Vigil held for 9-year-old boy killed in Queens hit-and-run,” PIX11 (May 6, 2018)

“Family calls for action during vigil for boy killed by hit and run driver in Queens,” ABC7 (May 6, 2018)

Jenna Bagcal, “‘One child’s death is too many’: After deadly Queens hit-and-run, advocates & lawmakers seek safety changes,” QNS.com (May 7, 2018)

 

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NYC March for Safe Streets

The news was horrifying. Two children were mowed down and killed by a reckless driver in Park Slope. Their mothers were seriously injured, and a busting residential neighborhood all witnessed it in broad daylight. This terrifying tragedy could take place on any street in New York City and could affect any person. Traffic violence doesn’t discriminate. We’re all at risk. We all mourn Abigail Blumenstein and Joshua Lew, and vow to support their devastated families.

That it happened in Park Slope is a tough burden for the elected officials who represent the area, and the activists who have for years, fought for safer street design and protected bike lanes. In fact, the Mayor himself exercises daily at the YMCA a block from the crash scene. This is a neighborhood of family cyclists, commuters and vibrant neighbors.

Within days, the driver’s license was suspended and the DOT pledged to put in the redesigns the community had been asking for, including a protected bike lane. This is far from standard. Often the driver is free to drive the very day. In fact, this driver was not charged, and still hasn’t been charged with any crime. In fact, something similar could happen here in Queens or the Bronx or anywhere, and barely make headlines.

This must be a tipping point for all New Yorkers. We must stop a cycle of violence that has killed and injured too many, only because no one has been tough enough to stand up to a car-culture and DMV that keeps reckless drivers on the road, despite long records of driving infractions. (this driver had myriad speeding and red-light running tickets). We can’t leave it up to politicians, community boards and activists to show up, whether at meetings or vigils such as this one. We must create a system of checks and balances that serve the millions of pedestrians, cyclists, mass-transit users, and more than anything our cities children, so that preventable deaths are indeed prevented.

The March for Safe Streets will be led by children and their parents and loved ones coming together as families that make up vibrant New York. Please join. You may have never considered yourself an advocate before, and you don’t have to. You just have to agree that we haven’t done enough to protect New Yorkers from traffic violence and demand measures are taken to keep our kids safe.

Let’s treat Abigail and Josh like they were our kids too. They were little New Yorkers full of promise and vibrancy. With their families, they played in parks, attended church, went to baby groups and should have had the promise of a life not taken by a reckless driver on a dangerous street in New York City.

Please join us for the NYC March for Safe Streets
Monday, March 12 at 6 PM – 7 PM
9th Street and Prospect Park West, Brooklyn

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2017 Zombie Ride & Upcoming Events

Over the next year, we’re pleased to be offering a series of family riding events in the areas of Jackson Heights, Corona, East Elmhurst and Elmhurst in the biking borough of Queens.
 
The Jackson Heights Beautification Group wrote and won a “Parks Build Healthier Communities” grant. Those funds will help facilitate many of the rides and skills training we do.
 
We’re blessed to be growing an active and involved community of bike riders and advocates, and are grateful to work with two other neighborhood groups, The Queens Bike Initiative and Ciclistas Latinoamericanos de Nueva York.
 
Below is a rough sample of future events. Check back here or at Make Queens Safer on facebook for updates.
 
1. Feeder Ride to Zombie Ride. October 28th.  The fourth annual Zombie Ride is a police escorted tour of Gantry Park and Astoria which ends at the Socrates Sculpture Park for their fall harvest festival.  It is a 6 mile ride. The feeder ride will take people from Corona, JH, Elmhurst on a route featuring the Queens Boulevard Bike Lane. (108, and 114 Precincts) Participants dress up in costume and trick or treat at bike shops along the route.
 
2. Jackson Heights Halloween Parade- Grant Kickoff October 31st.  The Jackson Heights Halloween Parade will celebrate its 27th year with a trip down 37th Ave. Roughly 15 schools participate but many children in Elmhurst and Corona have only come as spectators. We’ll kick off the celebration of winning the grant with children participating in the parade as a bike brigade. We will ride/walk bikes with a banner announcing the ride schedule and hand out postcards with ride dates. We will also hand out bike safety materials to spectators.
 
3. Santa Ride- December 3rd.  Originating with the bike group Ciclistas Latinoamericanos de Queens, this ride is accompanied by the 115 Precinct. It is a simple route featuring bike lane in East Elmhurst north of Northern Boulevard. Santa and his elves lead children safely between parks and landmarks with a stop for hot chocolate and bunelos to warm up on a cold day. Ride starts at Travers Park and ends at Playground for All Children. Flushing Meadows.
 
4. Family Biking Forum- March.  Each year before official biking season begins, members of Make Queens Safer bring together organizations involved in bike safety and education to address the needs and concerns of families who wish to incorporate biking into their routines. People bike for transportation, recreation, for commutes to activities and for family time. This is a mix of DOT, NYPD, Dept. of Health, Transportation Alternatives, Qns Bike Initiative and other groups that have been on the forefront of increasing bike infrastructure and advocacy to make biking safer for everyone.
 
5. Bike Skills Park Event – Corona Golf Playground.  It is very tough to teach young children how to safely ride in New York City. Our sidewalks are crowded and getting to a park can be a burden if you have to lug bicycles there in order to ride. By creating these bike riding practices events at local parks, we will bring together experts, willing volunteers, eager children and parents to practice riding and learning skills that could possibly prevent crashes, theft and anxiety.
  • Bike Rodeo events make games out of learning skills such as riding slow, turning and being aware of traffic.
  • Giveways including first aid and safety  gear
6.  Mother’s Day Ride- Corona.   In honor of the one year anniversary of the Mother’s Day event that supported safer bike and pedestrian access to Flushing Meadows Corona Park, we’ll gather to ride around the most recent DOT improvements to Corona.  The 110th Precinct will participate.  We will create a special token for all mothers who ride. Or perhaps have kids decorate a bike bell or helmet for their moms.
 
7. Pedal to Parks.  This ride is based on a successful ride held in Astoria. “Friends of “ groups of various parks got together to showcase the beautiful playgrounds. This ride will be approximately 5 miles and show off East Elmhurst Playground, Junction Playground, Playground 90, Corona Golf Playground, Moore Park, Hinton Park and Simone Park.
 
8. Celebrating Bike Lanes- To World’s Fair Marina.   The best part of riding is finding out how close we are to wonderful getaways. The World’s Fair Marina is a bit inaccessible by public transportation, but just a quick and safe ride by bike. Once there we’ll enjoy watching Dragon Boats, people fishing and small cruise ships while making a mural reimagining the location as a family friendly destination.
 
9. Flushing Bike Skills Park Event- The Park Between Us.   This will be a complete tour around Flushing Meadows Corona Park, with a bit of history and nature observing tucked in. Riders will become aware of the parks past, it’s transformation for the World’s Fair, and be shown the many diverse uses from baseball, playgrounds, bike lessons, swimming, soccer as well as public art. This will bring together perhaps two groups, families from Flushing and families from Corona.
 
10. Kissena Corridor to Cunningham Park, FMCP Ride November 11th.  Families from our part of Queens feel quite removed from nature, but it’s closer than you think! The Kissena Park Corridor is an off-road bike path that begins at Flushing Meadows park, goes alongside the Queens Botanic Garden and up a tree lined path filled with community gardens, sports and nature enthusiasts. Kissena Park by bike is a wonderful ride and destination that will truly show families the benefit of getting outdoors. Roughly 8 miles.
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A vote of confidence for 111th St

The community board 4 meeting for the DOT Safety improvements for 111th is tonight. You can call CB4 to express support at this number- 718-760-3141. The safety plan was established after 111th was given Vision Zero priority status due to a high rate of crashes and injuries to pedestrians, cyclists and vehicle operators. However, the board has never acted on the original plan or the modified one the DOT has researched and vetted.

The streetscape of 111th has changed in these years. The DOE has gone forward with added trailers to PS. 28, and adding UPK seats to the New York Hall of Science.  Both places have unprotected crossings for young children and their caregivers.

During this time, also, a new stadium was built at Flushing Meadows Corona Park which will bring excessive vehicle traffic to the area. Included in that plan was a relocation of a road. Last year, the USTA US Open was a disaster for pedestrians and cyclists. 

Yet, pedestrians are expected to fend for themselves. They are the neighbors and locals who use the park daily, yet their safety remains up to chance and their own vigilance. The crossing distance is currently 94 feet. The safety improvements will reduce that, and include wider pedestrian islands as refuge. Currently, there are three lanes of traffic, for what DOT has surveyed as just 400 cars per hour on the average day. Misuse of the road, by speeding and lane changing causes motor vehicle crashes like this one from January. It’s right at an intersection where refuge islands are recommended. (photo by Delia Trufino)

As advocates, we’ve done our due diligence. We’ve attended every meeting, done our own research, written elected, and even travelled to City Hall. We have witnessed injuries and crashes and know the real affect of dangerous streets. Because we are observant and asking the questions, we can say that many in our communities have been injured by reckless drivers and poorly designed streets. We have witnessed and documented many crashes over the years. Yet the legwork, commitment and continued pleas are secondary to those who currently hold the power.

Another stakeholder is Assemblyman Francisco Moya, who has consistently chosen to play politics with this safety concern, making it a hot potato at the community, city and even state level. It’s in the article. However, we asked Assemblyman Moya about the status of his support at his recent town hall in Jackson Heights. (recorded by Juan Restrepo)

We expect anything can happen at tonight’s meeting. There has been pandemonium at the Queens Blvd vote, and a recent uproar over a board member’s comments. There’s the possibility of making it a closed meeting in order to discuss the discipline or suspension of the board member as per the community board handbook guidelines on governance.  The board has also declined to vote on the DOT proposal, and a recent presentation was to a transportation committee of just two members. It’s the responsibility of the district leader to make sure the board has available information. We sure hope they follow the protocol of other boards like CB1 and CB5 who have distributed the full DOT bike, plaza and street design plans to attendees of their meetings.

We hope that CB4 will vote for a civilized roadway for all users. This safety improvement will extend medians, slow down the road and add protected bike lane. As any commuting cyclist in Queens will tell you, we see these improvements all over the city, why not here? Why not?

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A look at Jackson Heights Collisions in Advance of Pedestrian Town Hall

The way to reduce reckless driver behaviors like we just saw on 37th is meaningful enforcement.

     We looked at NYPD Collision Data for the time period December, 2015 to the present. There were 1,318 reported collisions in the zip code 11372. This is how the numbers break out: 

Number of People Injured                         327

Number of People Killed                                 4

 Number of Pedestrians Injured               120

Number of Pedestrians Killed                      3

Number of cyclist Injured                           87

Number of Cyclists Killed                              0

Number of Motorists Injured                   154

Number of Motorists Killed                           1

Note that a total of 38 collisions are unaccounted for. 

By clicking on each located collision you can see the NYPD reported contributing factor as well as any injury or fatality reported. We are dismayed to see that too often these contributing factors go unreported in reports filed when officers respond to the scene. This glaring misrepresentation of the cause of fatalities and injuries leaves our court system with an inability to properly prosecute those reckless drivers that are causing harm to residents. Of the 819 unspecified factors, how may are alcohol involved or failure to yield? Unless the NYPD does a better job of reporting on crashes, many victims will suffer without the support of a justice system that could and should be prosecuting reckless and dangerous drivers. 

 

 

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A tragedy in our home neighborhood

Our home base is Jackson Heights, Elmhurst, Corona, East Elmhurst. Last night, we learned a senior in our neighborhood was killed by a turning driver who failed to yield to this man who was in a crosswalk. What follows are comments made to our neighborhood list serve. Our hearts go out to this mans family and loved ones. 

My heart goes out to the friends, family and neighbors who suffer this loss on the very streets we walk, bike, bus, shop and drive every day.

It’s true, I had contacted the previous commanding officer last year about 37th and spoke at precinct council meeting just the night before this tragedy. I spoke specifically about 37th. I also mentioned that hazards such as double parking create road rage events, as frustrated drivers plow through streets once freed from behind a double parker.

Vision Zero initiatives have reduced fatalities. City-wide there has been a decrease of 60 fatalities over the last year. Sadly, they are on the rise again. Mind you, vision zero kind of started here with a march in November of 2013 after three kids were killed on Northern Blvd in about 10 months. Redesign came quickly on Northern. Left turn lanes, larger medians, changes to signal timing and sporadic speed camera use have all been added. 

Last year Olvidio Jaramillo was killed in a cross walk at Junction/Northern by a hit and run driver who was never caught and never turned himself in.  Senator Peralta and Council Member Ferreras-Copeland had a press conference and a walk about with DOT and NYPD. They both have pushed for more speed cameras in their districts. 

NYPD has said that resources are directed to crash areas- they are not proactive. If there have been crashes, then an area gets looked at. I will look at data.

NYPD said they had 5 or 7 (will check) fatalities in the 115 last year. A few on GCP and at least 3 on our neighborhood streets. Note that they are not listed on the traffic stat photo posted here.

What else goes unreported? What is under-reported, such as the category, “contributing factors”. Cops hardly ever cite any factors in police reports (cell phone, driver distraction, drowsy driver, speed) and this directly affects prosecution rates. 

I’m proud of the success we’ve had on Northern, though we are far from truly successful. We have prevented some tragedies. I stressed at115 Community Council that I biked there in the hard rain because “a tragedy is imminent on 37th.” 

We as a community are well placed change driver behavior. ( Yes, pedestrian and bike behavior as well, but please start a new thread for that ) We have many, though underfunded, volunteer groups and caring citizens. Schools and PTA’s can request DOT to do presentations. Our elected can distribute more pertinent info in their offices, of course legislation and street re-design need 311 complaints, active participation in community meetings and people who will make the call when they see “a crime in progress” which is a 911 call. Let police decide what level emergency your concern is. It’s your right, and it’s the advice NYPD gives. 911 is for a crime in progress. And traffic enforcement is law enforcement. Download the 311 app to your phone. You can send a photo, a mapped location and a complaint in less than a minute. Police are detailed based on 311 complaint data. 

We have here in JH, the founders of Make Queens Safer. We can’t do much, but we keep these tragedies in the news, attend community meetings, write about these topics, arrange press conferences and have the ear of legislators from local to the Mayor’s office. 

We have the Transportation Alternatives Queens Committee, which meets right there on 76th and 37th monthly. TA Queens sadly doesn’t have the respect of TA Manhattan/Brooklyn, but you can change that. 

We’ve got Van Bramer, Dromm, Peralta and Ferreras- who’ve all held press conferences for previous deadly traffic incidents.

We have Streetfilms! Clarence has made hundreds of videos documenting safe streets activism. Some months ago, he shot right here in JH, regarding yielding to pedestrians in crosswalks, when Mexican activist Peatonito came to New York for Vision Zero cities conference. 

With all respect for the serious and tragic circumstances today, I’ll still share the peatonito video. (Jh begins around 2 minutes). It may inspire you to engage your kids and neighbors. Peatónito is in NYC: Protecting Pedestrians from Cars in the Crosswalk