At this week’s town hall meeting at LaGuardia College in LIC, Ydanis Rodriguez, Vanessa Gibson, Jimmy Van Bramer, Danny Dromm, Costa Constantinides, Donovan Richards, and Mark Weprin were unequivocal in their support for improving pedestrian safety, and clear-eyed about the difficulty of the challenge. NYCDOT, NYPD, TLC also made clear that they are primed for action and intend to bring about real change. The vast majority of citizen speakers spoke in support of the Vision Zero agenda, urging action in particular risk locations, or calling attention to aspects of the pedestrian safety challenge that shouldn’t be overlooked.

This is an extraordinary place to be 100 days after Mayor de Blasio’s historic Vision Zero announcement.

Now, city agencies need tools and resources to do their jobs and make this change happen. This requires support on three fronts.

First, the New York City Council Transportation Committee will hold a very important hearing at 1pm on April 30th on a package 14 city laws and 8 resolutions requesting action by the state legislature. We encourage the four Queens members of this committee (Costa G. Constantinides, I. Daneek Miller, Jimmy Van Bramer, and Mark S. Weprin) to support the entire package.

Second, the New York City Council will soon be adopting a budget for the coming year. All components of the Vision Zero agenda — planning, engineering, implementation, enforcement, and education — require resources to deliver change on the comprehensive, citywide basis the Council and the Mayor have been promising. We encourage the Queens delegation to ensure that these priorities are reflected in the budget.

Finally, some of the most important legislative steps, such as a reduced citywide speed limit, speed and red light cameras, and increased consequences for reckless drivers with suspended licenses) require action by the State Legislature in Albany. Make Queens Safer is joining Families for Safe Streets and Transportation Alternatives for a day of action in Albany on May 6th to call on our state legislators to pass pedestrian safety legislation, especially the 20 mph speed limit. So far, with the exception of a few members, the Queens delegations in the State Senate and Assembly have not signed on as cosponsors of this legislation, so it’s hard to tell where they stand. We need people concerned about these issues to join us for this event, to let our representatives know that we consider this to be a priority. More details on the Albany trip are available here.

The momentum is encouraging.  But our legislative representatives need to hear from us that their leadership is needed to provide local officials with the tools they need to carry out this important and broadly popular initiative.

Would you join us in speaking up for a speed limit that could save more than 130 lives every year?   Reducing New York City’s default speed limit to 20 mph, down from the current 30 mph, can help save lives and prevent thousands of life-altering injuries.

There are two ways you can help.

First, you can sign a petition in favor of legislation currently under consideration in Albany to reduce New York City’s default speed limit to 20 mph (while allowing the city council will be able to tailor speed limits as appropriate for specific locations, e.g. higher for major arterials, lower for school zones).  Transportation Alternatives has made it easy to sign this petition and tell your legislators that “20 is Plenty” using this link: http://goo.gl/zKFhg4

Second, on May 6th, you can join Families for Safe Streets — a new group of crash survivors and families who’ve lost loved ones in traffic — and Transportation Alternatives and Make Queens Safer on a powerful day of action in Albany to demand elected officials lower New York City’s speed limit to 20 mph. It’s an important opportunity to ask our state legislators to do what they can to support Mayor de Blasio’s Vision Zero agenda.  Buses will depart from each borough at 6 am and return by 6 pm. Transportation Alternatives will contact you with details about meet-up locations.  You can reserve your spot via this link: http://www.transalt.org/calendar/7464 .

However you can help, please also drop us a line at MakeQueensSafer@gmail.com to let us know.

Thank you!

–Make Queens Safer

 Families whose loved ones have been killed or maimed by reckless behavior and dangerous conditions on New York City’s streets have come together to turn grief into action.   They will formally announce their new group, “Families For Safe Streets,” as a force for change on Sunday February 23 at 2pm on the steps of City Hall.  Everyone is welcome to attend.  Please visit the Facebook page for this event more details.

They are also planning a monthly meeting for individuals or families who have lost a loved one to reckless traffic in NYC.   See the Families for Safe Streets webpage for more details. 

Update: Here’s a selection of media coverage from the event:

• Stephen Miller, “Families of Traffic Violence Victims: Implement Vision Zero Now” Streetsblog, Feb. 24, 2014
• Streetfilms, “Families for Safe Streets: Let’s End Traffic Violence” Feb. 24, 2014
• Keith Williams, “New safe-streets group brings ‘the moral imperative to act’” The Weekly Nabe, Feb. 24, 2014
• Dana Varinsky, “Victims’ Families and Advocates Form Group to Combat Traffic Deaths” DNAinfo New York, Feb. 23, 2014
• Additional coverage from the multilingual press: TurkishNY, Epoch Times, World Journal

Pedestrian Safety Town Hall

Hosted by
Congressman Joseph Crowley
Assemblyman Francisco P. Moya
&
Make Queens Safer

Sunday, February 9th, 2014, 4pm-6pm
Renaissance Charter School
35-59 81 Street, Jackson Heights, NY 11372

What pedestrian safety issue concerns you the most?
What is being done to improve safety in the neighborhood?
Get your questions answered by elected officials and city agencies

Continue reading →

On January 18th, Angela Hurtado was killed at Grand Avenue and 69th Place in Maspeth by a driver with a suspended license making an illegal turn. According to Streetsblog, the driver was charged only “with third degree aggravated unlicensed operation, an unclassified misdemeanor that carries a maximum penalty of 30 days in jail and a $500 fine.” 

On Sunday afternoon, January 26th, Make Queens Safer stood with Senator Michael Gianaris, Assemblywoman Marge Markey, and Councilwoman Liz Crowley to renew Sen. Gianaris’ proposed legislation to make it a felony to drive with a suspended license and kill or seriously injure someone in the process.

See also:

• Brad Aaron, “Angela Hurtado, 68, Killed in Queens by Unlicensed Driver Making Illegal Turn,” Streetsblog, January 27, 2014
• Christina Santucci, “Bills target unlicensed in crashes with victims“, Times Ledger, January 31, 2014

Press release follows: Continue reading →

Candlelight Vigil for Pedesrian Safety & Ella Bandes Memorial
Sunday, January 26, 4:30 pm, Myrtle & Wyckoff Avenues, Ridgewood, Queens

A year ago, Ella Kottick Bandes was struck and killed by a bus at the intersection of Myrtle Avenue, Wyckoff Avenue and Palmetto Street on the boundary between Ridgewood, Queens and Bushwick, Brooklyn. Please join Ella’s family, concerned residents of the community, Make Queens Safer and Make Brooklyn Safer for a vigil in her memory.

In addition to remembering Ella, we will be calling for action to be taken to improve this unsafe intersection. Action is clearly overdue: three streets converge at the intersection, visibility is poor due to the subway columns and overhead tracks, and it has long been a hotspot for motor vehicle crashes. As the sixth busiest subway station in Brooklyn and a major bus hub, it also has very high pedestrian volumes. The city has said that it is studying safety improvements, but progress has not yet been seen on the ground.

Update: Continue reading →

Hundreds of thousands of NYC school children walk to and from school each day. These children have a fundamental right to a safe environment. Are we meeting our responsibility to provide it?

Make Queens Safer believes that access to school is a serious problem that schools need help to address. Many factors contribute to the difficulty of this problem:

• Students must cross major roadways, and at many schools, not enough crossing guards are provided, or none are present at all.
• Many parents drive their kids to school, resulting in double parking and congestion. Since curb space is rarely available, kids exit vehicles in traffic, putting themselves (and passing cyclists) at risk.
• Elementary schools must safely and quickly release students individually to their parents or guardians. Many have very limited sidewalk space to work with, and post Sandy Hook, many are revisiting security protocols that affect student arrival and dismissal.

At a recent school rezoning forum, Make Queens Safer called for a clear plan to address these challenges at IS 230 in Jackson Heights, which must find ways to keep its students safe after a new annex opens in the fall. Already, conditions at arrival and dismissal times need improvement: students receive no assistance crossing busy Northern Boulevard, and some drivers passing the school on 34th Avenue are behaving erratically as they rush to pass slow traffic around the school. When the annex opens on an opposite corner of the intersection of 34th Avenue and 74th Street, the school will have to deal with arrivals and dismissals on both sides of the avenue, find ways to minimize the need for children to cross between the two buildings during the day, and ensure students’ safety if and when they do need to cross. Many other schools throughout the city face similarly difficult challenges keeping their kids safe.

Schools should not be left on their own to determine the best ways to manage traffic chaos on their perimeters or help students cross busy intersections blocks away. They need help. The city should provide experts to help schools and local precincts develop safety audits and plans. The Safe Routes to School program is a commendable start, but a more comprehensive approach is needed that reaches beyond DOT’s toolkit and includes close collaboration among NYPD, DOT, and DOE. NYPD has an especially important resource to bring to the table: it can deploy more of its Traffic Enforcement Agents on foot patrols to control traffic at schools during key arrival and dismissal hours. Crossing Guards should continue to focus on crosswalk safety, but supplemental patrols by trained and empowered agents are needed to keep traffic orderly at key intersections over a broader area.

See also:

• Priya Desai, “Proposed School Zone Changes Not Sitting Well With Some Parents” NY1, January 14, 2014.  (For Time Warner Cable subscrbers)
• Trisha Sakhuja, “Middle School Rezoning In Jackson Heights” Queens Tribune, January 16, 2014.

Yesterday, Mayor Bill de Blasio changed the culture of New York City governance.   New Yorkers have been calling for measures to protect pedestrians since the death of Henry Bliss in 1899 (if not earlier).  But this has always seemed a futile battle.  Pedestrian deaths became a regrettable but broadly accepted price of progress.

Over the past decade, thanks to the tireless work of Transportation Alternatives, Streetsblog, StreetsPAC, Right of Way, and countless other citywide and community groups, this conversation has started to change.  Mayor Bloomberg’s Department of Transportation set about transforming the city’s streets with safety and livability in mind.   But never until today has street safety been made a central concern of government.  The policy commitments and interagency coordination promised by the mayor and his commissioners are unprecedented.  We think many cities around the U.S. will watch what happens here, and begin to follow New York’s lead.

By following through on this promise to make Vision Zero a priority, Mayor de Blasio has already accomplished something signficant.  And his recognition of how this crisis reaches deep into communities that are isolated by language and cultural barriers is extremely important.  We admire the Mayor’s efforts yesterday to embrace families and communities who mustered the courage to speak out on this issue despite these barriers.

As a result of this bold action and its rapid roll out, children and other New Yorkers will start to be safer today on city streets.  Sadly, Queens has already seen the death of a young mother and several severe injuries this year, and we know that more tragedies lie ahead, but thanks to Mayor de Blasio we are on the road, for the first time in our city’s history, to a systematic implementation of safe and livable streets for all.

See also:

• Jarrett Murphy, “De Blasio’s Vision: Zero Traffic Deaths,” The Nation (January 16, 2014)
• Stephen Miller, “De Blasio Rolls Out a Multi-Agency Approach to Reducing Traffic Violence,” Streetsblog (January 15, 2014)
• Clarence Eckerson, Jr., NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio Makes Historic “Vision Zero” Announcement, Streetfilms (January 15, 2014)

In celebration of  Mayor Bill de Blasio’s commitment to the “three E’s” – Engineering, Enforcement, Education – to reduce traffic-related injuries and fatalities on our streets, families from across the city will be gathering on Wednesday, January 1st, 2014, at 10:45 AM to distribute Vision Zero stickers at Park Row and Chambers Street.  Look for the yellow and black congratulations balloons and banner.  Vision Zero Starts Today!

Update, 1/2/2014: The event went extremely well.   The city’s new Transportation Commissioner, Polly Trottenberg, stopped by to introduce herself and emphasize her commitment to this issue.  And in the time since, Mayor de Blasio and Police Commissioner William Bratton have made it clear that this is at the top of their agendas.

• Keith Williams, “Celebrating Vision Zero, advocates inaugurate a new era for livable streets” The Weekly Nabe, January 1, 2014
• Stephen Miller, “Trottenberg Meets Parents of Traffic Violence Victims at Inauguration” Streetsblog, January 2, 2014

On Sunday evening, over 150 people gathered on Northern Blvd. to mourn 8-year-old Noshat Nahian. There was deep sadness at the loss of another child to reckless driving, but growing determination to take action to bring about change. Thanks for all who came out to be heard, and to comfort and support those in our community who are grieving.  We would particularly like to thank Noshat’s family and friends, as well as Seema Ahmed, the Bravo family, Afsana Choudhury, the Cohen-Eckstein family, Congressman Joseph Crowley, State Senator Mike Gianaris, S. Mitra Kalita, State Senator Jose Peralta, Agah Saleh, the Tam-Liao family, Steve Vaccaro, Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer, Transportation Alternatives, and Woodside on the Move.

In an encouraging development the next morning, State Sen. Mike Gianaris proposed new legislation to implement stiffer penalties and impound license plates for individuals found to be driving with suspended licenses. Make Queens Safer was proud to join him for the announcement, along with Senator Toby Ann Stavisky, Senator Jose Peralta, Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer, and Transportation Alternatives Executive Director Paul Steely-White.  It was another example of how the Queens delegation is stepping up to provide leadership in the City Council and Albany to keep our communities safe.

[Show slideshow]

Here’s some media coverage from the Sunday and Monday events:

• Bill Parry, “Truck kills Woodside school boy,” Times Ledger, December 24, 2013
• Sarah Goodyear, “A Growing Plea in New York: Pedestrian Deaths Cannot Be Tolerated,” Atlantic Cities, December 24, 2013
• Mike Sheehan, “Vigil held for 8-year-old boy killed by truck driver in Queens,” WPIX 11, December 22, 2013 (video)
• Anna Gustafson, “After 8-year-old boy killed by truck driver, calls for change,” The South and West Forum, December 23, 2013
• Ryan Sit, “Mourners in Queens call for traffic guards at spot where boy, 8, was killed by truck,” The Daily News, December 23, 2013
• Jane Gray, “Senator Proposes Tougher Laws for Drivers With Suspended Licenses,” The Epoch Times, December 23, 2013
• Brownstoner Queens, “Local Pols Held Traffic Rally in Woodside Today,” December 23, 2013
• Yang Yi, “New bill requires state legislators to punish undocumented drivers,” NTDTV.com, December 24, 2013 (video)
• Christian Murray, “Pols seek harsher penalties for unlicensed drivers, question why there were no crossing guards were child was struck,” Sunnyside Post, December 24, 2013
• Alan Krawitz, “As borough’s pedestrian injuries, fatalities rise, community seeks solutions” The South and West Forum, January 2, 2014

Together, we need to press to make our streets safer and more forgiving.

• Embracing Vision Zero: A letter from Amy Cohen
  

Key Quotes:

“We’ll continue to meet every traffic fatality w/a response. #VisionZero will be a reality & I’ll fight until it is.” – Councilmember Jimmy Van Bramer via Twitter