The NYPD’s Holiday Gift to Motorists: Central Park

The NYPD’s Holiday Gift to Motorists: Central Park: "

After introducing some yuletide sanity two winters ago, the city is back to sending a schizophrenic message to New Yorkers this holiday season: Please use mass transit, but if you choose to drive, we've made it easier by increasing the hours when cars are permitted on a section of Central Park's loop road. Only this time it's the NYPD, not the Department of Transportation, behind the double message.

These small, flimsy flyers are the only thing tipping off pedestrians and cyclists to the presence of more traffic in Central Park. Photo: Ken Coughlin.

According to a well-placed source with knowledge of the situation, the NYPD issued a directive this year that cars be allowed to use the loop's southeast corner as a cut-through for an additional two hours, until 9 p.m., on weekdays. The expansion runs until "January 2010," according to notices. The NYPD has not returned inquiries about the reason for the change or why it is setting traffic policy.

The road in question is the southeast corner of the Central Park loop, a half-mile stretch that allows drivers to go from Sixth Avenue to the Upper East Side by cutting across a corner of the park. Two years ago Streetsblog reported that the DOT had quietly done away with "holiday hours" on Central Park's loop road, ending the annual suspension of car-free time that had been used to accommodate motorists during the holidays. The change was a huge success in that the only people who seemed to notice were the park's recreational users, who were delighted. Holiday hours didn't resurface last winter, and the annual holiday traffic plan that DOT produced for 2009 contains no mention of the change [PDF]. (The DOT and Parks Department press offices both directed inquiries to the NYPD.)

Park users may have thought holiday traffic hours were gone for good, but they were wrong.

Would you notice this sign if you were passing by? Photo: Ken Coughlin.

Meanwhile, the way the change has been broadcast is revealing. The reduction in car-free hours is being announced to cyclists, runners and other park users by a small, 8½ by 11-inch flyer fastened to a pole a few feet shy of the point where someone on foot or on a bike would merge with car traffic. Identical small signs are secured to poles at six or seven other points along the route. The signs, which look for all the world like the "lost pet" or "affordable housecleaning" flyers taped to light poles all over town, would barely register with a cyclist or runner, much less be readable by them. Nevertheless, the signs warn recreational users to "Proceed With Caution."

"I was riding home through the park at 8:30 p.m. and cars were pouring in from Sixth Avenue," said commuter cyclist Albert Ahronheim, who first alerted Streetsblog to the extra time allotted to park traffic. "I thought someone must have left the gate open by mistake." Ahronheim only discovered the small signs when he returned the next evening to take a closer look.

By contrast, the city has taken great pains to ensure that any driver traveling up Sixth Avenue is aware of the change. Like a bright star in the east guiding the Three Wise Men to Bethlehem, a large mobile electric sign is positioned at Sixth Avenue between 55th and 56th Streets, announcing in foot-high, blinking letters: "PARK OPEN TILL 9 PM N/B [northbound] ACCESS 59TH AND 6TH EAST DRIVE IN CENTRAL PARK UNTIL 9PM." To ensure that no motorist will fail to remark the glad tidings, a duplicate sign flashes between 58th and 59th Streets -- still enough time to change lanes and speed into the world's most famous urban green space.

"

#1 Problem For Cabbies: Bathroom Breaks

#1 Problem For Cabbies: Bathroom Breaks: "

Are city cabbies making 'sun tea' in their vehicles? Of the 44,000 TLC drivers on the streets, most working 12 hour days, you can imagine how difficult it is for them to find a place they can relieve themselves. So many allegedly 'resort to going in the street or peeing in bottles stowed under their seats.'

The problem is a big one for the drivers, and amNewYork reports that their "hunt for a toilet is getting harder as new bike lanes and MUNI meters make it harder to jump out without getting ticketed." There are 55 relief stands in the city, where drivers are able to park for an hour — but that number goes down with construction projects popping up; even the Times Square pedestrian plaza took two away.

The city is allegedly creating new stands, and a GPS device detecting public bathrooms could be ready in, oh, two years or so. But until then, others are trying to help out where they can. After receiving workers comp claims for kidney problems, one taxi garage owner in Brooklyn opened his doors to all drivers.

"

City Planning Preserves Sidewalks, But Reinforces Parking Minimums

City Planning Preserves Sidewalks, But Reinforces Parking Minimums: "

The Department of City Planning proposed new rules last week that should keep sidewalks safer and reduce conflicts between pedestrians and cars. The zoning regs, if approved, would also cut down on the proliferation of "parking pads" -- off-street spaces paved over front yards -- in some parts of the city. Overall, the amendment includes some much-needed measures to keep the pedestrian environment from deteriorating. But not all the news is good: The amendment also creates a new rule, reinforcing parking requirements for
residential buildings.

Freshly cut curb in Dyker Heights, Brooklyn. Photo: Department of City Planning.

The "Residential Streetscape Preservation Text Amendment" prohibits paving over front yards to create curb-cutting driveways, keeping sidewalks safer and more intact for pedestrians. The amendment also places several restrictions on where property owners can build curb cuts. (You can see all the proposed rules in this presentation.) Basically, it's an attempt to keep space for cars from destroying the quality of space for pedestrians.

The ban on parking pads should put a halt to the proliferation of curb-cuts in certain neighborhoods. "To the extent that this text amendment is effective, that will be a boon," said Rachel Weinberger, a planning professor at the University of Pennsylvania and co-author of Suburbanizing the City, the 2008 report that examined New York City's decidedly unsustainable off-street parking policies [PDF]. "When people are paving over their front yards, that implies they're
driving across the sidewalk, which is an incredibly dangerous thing."

The new rules would also create important protections in addition to the parking pad ban. One requirement sets out to prevent the addition of off-street parking in parts of Manhattan and western Queens if the new curb-cut "adversely affects" pedestrian movement. "DCP's proposed change appears to be a real shift in that policy," said Lindsey Lusher-Shute of Transportation Alternatives. "Of course, the effectiveness of this measure will be determined by the definition of 'adverse effects,' but this is a step in the right direction."

As City Room reported last week, much of the impetus for the new rules appears to have come from community boards in neighborhoods like Dyker Heights and Bay Ridge, where paved yards have rapidly spread as homeowners race to secure their own personal space for car storage. While the zoning amendment would put a stop to that particular turf war, it also gives in to the territorial instinct by creating new parking requirements.

"Unfortunately, these regulations perpetuate the now 50-year-old practice of requiring developers to build parking when they add units to existing housing," said Lusher-Shute. "In neighborhoods with excellent access to public transportation, requiring parking is costly, unnecessary and will cause more traffic congestion over the long term."

The zoning amendment is now proceeding through the public review process, including stops at all 59 community boards, the borough presidents' offices, the City Planning Commission, and the City Council.

"

The Case for a Car-Free Halloween

The Case for a Car-Free Halloween: "

So, I hope you'll forgive me for posting these Halloween pictures halfway through November. I took them on Fifth Avenue at the south end of Park Slope, and I've been meaning to share them since election week. 

Usually on Halloween I'm cooped up in an office until dark, but since it fell on a Saturday this year, I got to head out and enjoy the trick-or-treating with everyone else. And I mean everyone. The kids, the parents, the grandparents. The merchants who give away candy. The people who just happen to be out on the street. Halloween has got to be the
most active day of the year for New York City streetlife (even more than marathon day, I'd say).

Halloween is really the ultimate livable streets holiday. Consider: We plan streets to accommodate peak rush-hour traffic, and we pave parking lots
big enough for the oceans of cars that arrive for Black Friday shopping. If we treated infrastructure for walking the same way, we'd plan to accommodate the pedestrian volumes on
Halloween. Our sidewalks would be much bigger.

Because so many people are out walking, Halloween is also a day of horrific traffic violence. Nationally, the incidence of child pedestrian fatalities doubles on this day. In New York, DOT feels compelled to send out safety tips for parents and drivers. On Fifth Avenue, large platoons of trick-or-treaters would gather on corners, spilling into the street while waiting for the walk sign.

Sometimes, they'd get cut off even after the traffic signal gave them the all clear.

I don't think bright costumes and safety awareness campaigns for drivers really do the trick here. How much safer and more enjoyable would Halloween be if kids and families could go trick-or-treating without worrying about getting hit by a car?

Halloween falls on a Sunday next year, so here's an idea. Why not combine this holiday with Summer Streets and make trick-or-treating car-free on neighborhood commercial streets all over New York? Logistically, I'm sure this would be quite the commitment. But DOT already seems intent on expanding car-free events. Hitching Summer Streets to the Halloween wagon could pay off big-time.

"

State DOT Channels Spirit of Robert Moses in Major Deegan Expansion Plan

State DOT Channels Spirit of Robert Moses in Major Deegan Expansion Plan: "

These are enlightened times for New York City's local streets. The city is building sidewalk extensions, protected bike lanes, and better busways. But at the state DOT -- the agency that controls the vast majority of New York's federal transportation funding -- much of the playbook still comes straight from the Robert Moses era. At a pair of public meetings yesterday, representatives from the state DOT's Region 11 office presented plans to jam more space for cars through the dense urban fabric of the southwest Bronx, just as the area appears poised to construct new housing, parks, and retail.

The Major Deegan at the 138th Street exit. Does the South Bronx need a bigger barrier to the Harlem River waterfront? Image: AA Roads.

The DOT proposal calls for bigger ramps at the 138th Street exit and the construction of "auxiliary lanes" along a segment of the Major Deegan Expressway parallel to the Harlem River. If built, the project would expand both the capacity of the Deegan and its physical footprint. Construction would necessitate the seizure of 14 properties through eminent domain. Region 11 spokesperson Adam Levine pegged the cost at $200 to $250 million. 

As the Daily News reported earlier this week, local residents fear the highway widening would also stifle redevelopment plans for this area of the Bronx and cut off waterfront access to the Harlem River. As part of the city's South Bronx Initiative, 1,500 units of new housing, 220,000 square feet of retail, and five acres of new parkland are slated for the immediate neighborhood around the state DOT project, said Walter Houston, head of the Local Development Corporation of the West Bronx. The bigger ramp would effectively block off pedestrian access to the redeveloped waterfront.

"It’s a wall between the community and the waterfront, which would only contribute to the deterioration of the waterfront," said Houston. "DOT is proposing a narrow tunnel through this wall, and that's it." A pedestrian tunnel under a highway exit ramp. Sound like an appealing way to walk to the new riverfront park?

The Deegan is an aging structure, and no one disputes that this segment needs a rehab. But according to the DOT, more lanes and wider ramps are needed to "address safety and operational issues" and alleviate traffic jams. "There’s a back-up on the Major Deegan throughout the day that ends up causing a lot of problems with congestion and air quality," said Levine.

Will building more space for cars solve any of these problems? "They’re adding an auxiliary lane and making the ramps two lanes," said Kyle Wiswall of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, who attended yesterday's meeting. "You're now adding so much capacity for cars to get off the highway, in the long-term it’s going to attract more traffic. I don't see how that’s going to positively affect air quality, congestion, or safety."

DOT is also considering a rehab-only alternative, which would not add any new capacity. As of yesterday, said Wiswall, the agency could not provide a cost estimate for the rehab-only version. At a time when the state of New York is essentially
broke and the state DOT has no funding for its $25.8 billion, 5-year
capital plan, a simpler project with a smaller footprint should be a fiscal no-brainer.

If the state DOT wants to invest in this part of the Bronx, there are plenty of streets which could use some improvements. The Grand Concourse is one of the deadliest streets in the city: From 2006 to 2008, five pedestrians died in traffic collisions along the corridor.

It's not unheard of for the state DOT to funnel money toward pedestrian safety enhancements on local roads. Federal funding, for instance, helped build the Hudson River Greenway. But safety doesn't seem to be a high priority at the state level. As Tri-State analyst Michelle Ernst reminded us, the state DOT recently gave up 85 percent of its 2009 federal funding for ped-bike projects.

For Houston, the Deegan project exemplifies an agency stuck in the past. "This project was first conceived in the late 90s -- no one took into account the new way we look at transportation and mobility these days," he said. "Our redevelopment efforts are geared to the development of people, not the movement of cars."

Update: Elana Schor at Streetsblog Capitol Hill sends word from Congressman José Serrano's office. "I am distressed to hear that in a proposed redesign of exit and entrance ramps to the Major Deegan, the community could suffer a loss of access to their waterfront," Serrano said through a spokesperson. "Cutting access to these precious locations is unacceptable to me, to the community, and should be seen as a non-starter by the DOT."

"

Pennies for Pedestrians: NY State Spends Small on Street Safety

Pennies for Pedestrians: NY State Spends Small on Street Safety: "

New York State devotes just 1 percent of its federal transportation funds to pedestrian infrastructure. Photo: Wikipedia

It's not news that a half-century of transportation spending to accommodate the automobile has made the typical American city hazardous and hostile to people on foot. But it's shocking how we still devote so few resources to correcting those mistakes. A new report released today by a coalition of advocacy groups, including Transportation for America and the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, quantifies current funding disparities and the cost in human lives. From T4A:

In the last 15 years, more than 76,000 Americans have been killed while crossing or walking along a street in their community. More than 43,000 Americans -- including 3,906 children under 16 -- have been killed this decade alone. This is the equivalent of a jumbo jet going down roughly every month, yet it receives nothing like the kind of attention that would surely follow such a disaster.

Counterintuitive as it may be, "Dangerous by Design" also finds that, when it comes to investing in pedestrian-friendly streets, New York has little room to boast. Here are local stats culled from the report, issued in a joint statement from TSTC, Transportation Alternatives, the Regional Plan Association and TWU Local 100:

• 22.5 percent of total traffic deaths in New York State are pedestrians
  
  


• 31 percent of total traffic deaths in the NYC metropolitan area are pedestrians
  
  


• Only 1 percent of New York State federal transportation funds are spent on pedestrian infrastructure, an average of $0.73 per person
  
  


• New York State ranks 44th in the nation for federal spending on walking and biking
  
  


• The NYC metropolitan area receives only $0.61 per person in federal funds for pedestrian and bike facilities, well below the meager $1.39 spent per person for metro areas nationwide

Advocates are calling on Governor Paterson and the New York State Legislature to designate 10 percent of federal Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) and 10 percent of federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) funding for pedestrian safety; to enact a statewide complete streets policy; to increase funding for Safe Routes to School and Safe Seniors programs; and to create a statewide Safe Routes to Transit program.

"From 2005 to 2008, New York has received $5.6 billion in federal transportation funds," reads the statement. "In the same amount of time there have been 1,215 preventable pedestrian deaths."

You can download "Dangerous By Design" in its entirety here. Elana Schor
has more on the report's national implications at Streetsblog Capitol Hill.

"

The Weekly Carnage

The Weekly Carnage: "

The Weekly Carnage is a Friday round-up of motor vehicle mayhem
across the metro region. For more on the origins and purpose of this
column, please read About the Weekly Carnage.

Photo: Daily News

Fatal Crashes (5 Killed This Week, 232 This Year*, 23 Drivers Charged**)

• Queens: Crack-Smoking Driver Charged With Manslaughter for Killing 2 Kids (News 1, 2, Post, NY1)


• Staten Island: Unlicensed 16-Year-Old Kills Self, Injures Friend in One-Car Crash (Advance 1, 2, 3)


• Spotswood, NJ: 1 Killed, 2 Hurt in Three-Car Collision (S-L)


• Barnegat, NJ: Collision Between Two SUVs Kills 1, Injures 4 (S-L)
  

Photo: Daily News

Injuries, Arrests and Property Damage

• Gothamist Newsmap: 5 Pedestrians Struck Since Sunday (Gothamist 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
  


• Brooklyn: Two Fire Trucks Collide, Injuring 12 (NYT, News)
  


• Brooklyn: Major Crash Reported Near Cadman Plaza (Gothamist, Advance)


• Serious Staten Island Collision Injures 2 (Advance)


• Yorktown, NY: 73-Year-Old Charged With DWI, Leaving Scene After Head-On Crash (LoHud)
  


• Southampton, LI: Wrong-Way Driver Rams Three Police Cars, Four Others (Newsday)


• Melville, LI: Ladders Fall Off Truck, Shut LIE for 90 Minutes; 4 Injured; Driver Has No Idea (Newsday)


• Melville, LI: 3 Injured in SUV Collision (Newsday)


• Holbrook, LI: 2 Drivers, 1 Child Injured in Two-Car Crash (Newsday)
  


• Yaphank, LI: School Bus Rear-Ended; No Injuries Reported (Newsday)
  


• Jersey City: Homeless Man Hit, Hospitalized (Jersey Jrnl)


• Secaucus, NJ: DWI Man Arrested When 12-Year-Old Passenger Calls Cops (S-L)
  


• Bayonne, NJ: Man Hits Parked Car, Charged With DWI (Jersey Jrnl)


• Hamilton, NJ: Turnpike Crash Injures 2 (Times)
  


• Mount Olive, NJ: Driver Arrested for DWI After Crashing Truck Into Tree (Warren Rep)


• Danbury, CT: 6 Hurt in Three-Car Wreck (CT Post) 
  


• Bridgeport, CT: Five Cops Under Investigation Following Crash (CT Post)
  

Following Up

• Manhattan: No Charges Filed in Deadly East Village Collision (Post)


• Manhattan: Carmen Huertas Arraigned in Fatal Hudson Parkway Crash (City Room, Post)
  


• Manhattan: Ex-Cop, Reporter Gets Slap on the Wrist for DWI Wreck (Gothamist)


• Manhattan Times Details Last Week's Washington Heights Motorcyclist Fatality
  


• Queens: Cyclist Victim's Mom Continues Quest for Bike Lane on Queens Boulevard (News)


• Staten Island: "Rule of Two" at Play in Arraignment for Fatal Collision (Advance)
  


• Bronx: Bereaved Family Sues Over Hearse Explosion; Post Finds the Funny


• Yorktown: Man Pleads to Menacing in 2008 Fatal Crash (LoHud)
  


• Freeport, LI: Man Gets Up to 15 Years for 2008 Fatal DWI Crash (Newsday)


• Mineola, LI: Repeat DWI Offender Sentenced to 7-21 Years for Killing Student (AP)
  


• Schuler Taconic Crash, Other "DWI Mom" Stories Profiled on "Oprah" (Newsday)


• Orange, CT: Police Audio Released From Cop-Involved Crash That Killed 2 (CT Post)
  

Photo: CNN

Out of Town

• Sparks, NV: Couple Awakes to Find Themselves Pinned Under Car (CNN)


• Martinez, CA: Pedestrian Ripped Apart on Interstate After Hit-and-Run (KPIX)
  


• Boise, ID: Mentally Ill Man Plows Truck Into Motorcycle Cops (AP)


• Hill 'N Dale, FL: Ped Fatally Struck By Three Drivers; One Flees Scene (Times)


• Reed City, MI: 20-Month-Old Run Down, Killed in Driveway (Cadillac News)
  


• Philadelphia: Cab Driver Convicted in Hit-and-Run Killing of 5-Year-Old Pedestrian (Philly Inq)


• Providence, RI: Man Hits 3 Peds, Drives a Mile With One Clinging to Windshield (AP)


• Canterbury, Australia: Ped Bridge Elevator Fails, Elderly Man Killed Trying to Cross (SMH)


• London: Cop Gets 6.5 Years for Killing Woman During 107 MPH "Joyride" (Times)
  


• Dallas, TX: Bus Crash That Killed 17 Called "Perfect Storm of Gross Negligence" (AP)

Photo: NYT

Trends and Other News

• Halloween Especially Scary for Pedestrians (USA Today, Consumer Reps, Times, Missourian, Reuters)
  


• Cy Vance Kicks Off Instructive, Sobering Vehicular Crime Legal Forum (Streetsblog)
  


• Child Deaths Prompt News Call for Tougher Drunk Driving Laws


• NYPD Makes 24-Hour "Extra Effort" to Ticket Cellphone-Using Drivers (City Room)


• Sustained DWI Crackdown in Brooklyn's 84th Precinct Sees Drop in Other Crimes (Post)
  


• Freakonomics: Cab Driver Attrition, Poor Working Conditions Lead to Reckless Driving


• New York Motorists Don't Give a Damn About Your Kid (WTEN)


• Florida Dominates "Worst Places to Walk" List (Orlando Sentinel)
  


• Las Vegas Ped Fatalities Down Amid Crosswalk Stings (KVBC)


• New, Weaker Distracted Driving Bill Surfaces in U.S. Senate (Streetsblog Cap Hill)


• Car-Mounted Cameras Could Help Inattentive Drivers Avoid Hitting People (AP)


• "Crash-Proof" Cars: Good or Bad? (Streetsblog)
  


• Ohio Bike Blogger Kevin Kimmich: When in Doubt, Shout (Monster Pull)


• Children Made to Salute Cars in Huangping, China; Is It All That Different From This? (NYT) 

* Since the week of June 8
** Drivers charged for deaths since the week of June 8, based on latest available reports

"

Broken Streets Theory: How to Alter the Psychology of Reckless Driving

Broken Streets Theory: How to Alter the Psychology of Reckless Driving: "

Jessie Singer has a great feature in the latest issue of TA's Reclaim magazine (now available online), examining the NYPD's failure to curb dangerous driving. After pushing down violent crime rates so effectively based on data-driven analysis, she asks, why don't police use the same techniques to tame the life-threatening hazards of New York City traffic?

Much of the answer, says Peter Moskos, a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and a former Baltimore cop, boils down to the way police perceive their work:

Photo: Wiley Norvell.

The NYPD fails to enforce traffic crime in part because the NYPD
does not track traffic crime. And part of the reason the NYPD doesn't
track traffic crime is because deterring it doesn't bring the same
clear rewards as more traditional law enforcement.

"It doesn't draw on the skills police see themselves as having. It is
annoying and time-consuming for officers to do traffic stops," Moskos
says. "Partly because the people you are helping aren't there to
appreciate
how you are helping them. There is not much gratification for traffic
work on a personal or professional level, because the people you are
helping are not there to thank you."

To make the benefits of law-abiding behavior behind the wheel more apparent, perhaps a good first step would be to strengthen the NYPD's working relationships with advocates for street safety. (Case in point: San Francisco's new police chief, George Gascon, said he would consider creating a liaison to cyclists in an interview with Streetsblog San Francisco last month.)

Drawing on the "broken windows" school of policing that NYPD has famously employed for two decades as a core strategy to deter crime, Singer notes that New York's streets will remain hazardous as long as motorists perceive the consequences of reckless driving to be arbitrary and rare:

Applying the rigor of the Broken Windows Theory to traffic enforcement
would change the way the NYPD measures and deters traffic crime. The
new regime would end the practice of consistently ignoring
moving violations spotted through the patrol car window. But more
importantly, as the application of Broken Windows did with street
crime, it would indicate to drivers that they cannot get away with it,
that the lawlessness police ignored in the past will no longer be
tolerated in the present.

"There is no question about it, you would have to do this on a regular
basis, almost consistent basis, to be effective," says Lou Riccio,
Commissioner at the NYC Department of Transportation during the Dinkins
administration. Riccio was one of several traffic experts interviewed
for the "Executive Order" report. "That's the problem with enforcement,
it is random. [Behavioral psychologist B.F.] Skinner
said [you need] random rewards and certain punishments. What we do is
no rewards and random punishments, and they may actually exacerbate the
problem. If [drivers] get caught, they think it's just the bad luck of
the draw. And therefore they don't change their behavior."

"

AccidentSketch Helps You Create Detailed Accident Reports [Driving]

AccidentSketch Helps You Create Detailed Accident Reports [Driving]: "

Accidents happen to even the most cautious drivers. If you find yourself in one, AccidentSketch is a simple web-based tool that can help you draw up a picture and generate a report to give to your insurance company.

AccidentSketch uses a simple template system. Cars, road segments, signs, pedestrians, and more all snap to the grid and in the case of small objects like signs can be moved from there. You can change the colors of things, zoom in and out to get as close or wide as you need, and even assign information to parties involved like the license plate numbers of the cars in the accident.

Once you create a diagram you can also generate a text-based report to fill in details that can't be easily conveyed by the picture. When you're done you've got a tidy accident sketch and report to submit to the interested parties. The service is free and requires no registration.

Have a handy tool and tidbit for dealing with insurance companies and life after a fender-bender? Let's hear about it in the comments.

AccidentSketch [via MakeUseOf]

"

The Weekly Carnage

The Weekly Carnage: "

The Weekly Carnage is a Friday round-up of motor vehicle mayhem
across the metro region. For more on the origins and purpose of this
column, please read About the Weekly Carnage.

Photo: Newsday

Fatal Crashes (17 Killed This Week, 227 This Year*, 22 Drivers Charged**)

• Staten Island: Man Crushed to Death By His Own SUV (News, Advance)


• Manhattan: LES Collision Leaves One Dead (Streetsblog)


• Manhattan, Queens: 3 Motorcyclists Dead in Separate Crashes (AP) 


• Queens: Unidentified Pedestrian Killed in Corona (Gothamist)
  


• Shirley, LI: Drunk Hit-and-Run Driver Kills Pedestrian; Not Charged for Death (Newsday 1, 2)


• Yaphank, LI: Hit-and-Run Driver Kills Ped; Tells Cops He Thought Man Was a Deer (Newsday)
  


• Yaphank, LI: 1 Killed in Collision Involving Family of 911 Dispatcher (Newsday 1, 2)


• Deer Park, LI: Elderly Man Dies After Crash Possibly Precipitated by Health Emergency (Newsday)


• Ronkokoma, LI: Man Dies in Collision With Tractor-Trailer (Newsday)


• Danbury, CT: Teen Killed, 3 Injured in One-Vehicle Crash (CT Post)


• Bethany, CT: 3 Killed When Car Hits Tree (CT Post)
  


• New Brunswick, NJ: 15-Year-Old Pedestrian Struck; No Charges (S-L)
  


• Millburn, NJ: 19-Year-Old Dead in Single-Car Crash (S-L, The Local 1, 2)
  


• Branchburg, NJ: Man Slits Own Throat, Flips Car After Police Stop (Somerset Rep)***

Photo: The Uptowner

Injuries, Arrests and Property Damage

• Manhattan: NYPD Van Strikes Pedestrian; Post Blames Anarchic "Pedestrian Culture"


• Manhattan: TEA Altercation Ends in Driver Arrest, Accusation of Agent Assault (Gothamist)
  


• Manhattan: Dirt Bike Riders Tear Through Harlem; Cops at a Loss (Uptowner)


• Bronx: NYPD Officer Accused of Hitting Pregnant Woman's Car, Leaving Scene (Gothamist)
  


• Staten Island: Officer Injured When Hit-and-Run Driver Strikes NYPD Cruiser (Advance)


• Eastchester: Woman Hits 15-Year-Old Girl, Leaves Her in Street (LoHud)
  


• Southhold, NY: Man Picking Up His DWI Girlfriend at Police Station Arrested for DWI (LoHud)


• Southampton, LI: Passenger Arrested for Traffic Stop Tirade (Newsday)


• Melville, LI: Multiple-Car Crash Paralyzes LIE (Newsday)


• Greenwich, CT: Man Hits Pedestrian, Charged With DWI (CT Post)
  


• Rahway, NJ: Child Hit, Hospitalized With Head Injuries (NJLN)
  


• Cranford, NJ: Unlicensed Driver Nailed for Warrants During Crosswalk Sting (Chron)
  


• Paterson, NJ: Fire Truck, Car Collision Injures 2 (S-L)
  

Following Up

• Manhattan: NYPD Sgt. Indicted for Critically Injuring UES Pedestrian in June (NYT, Post)


• Manhattan: Accused DWI Mom Carmen Huertas Indicted for Fatal Crash (AP, Post)


• Brooklyn: Al Sharpton Keeping an Eye on Andrew Kelly Case (Gothamist)
  


• Staten Island: Driver Killed in Backhoe Collision Identified (Advance)
  


• Daily News: People Who Block Parking Spots Deserve to Die (Streetsblog) 


• Hiram Monserrate: I'm No Worse Than John Sabini (News)
  


• "Law & Order" to Dramatize Taconic Wrong-Way Crash; Families Object (Post, Post)


• Nassau Co.: Guardrail Will Be Installed After Fatal Wantagh Bike Path Crash (Newsday)
  


• Bayonne, NJ: School Bus Driver Ticketed for Critically Injuring Pedestrian (Jersey Jrnl)


• Summit, NJ: Driver Found at Fault for Ped Death; No Criminal Charges (Indy Press)
  


• Elizabeth, NJ: Man Pleads Guilty in Crash That Injured Officer; Could Get 30 Years (S-L)

Photo: Jalopnik

Out of Town

• Milo, NY: Worker Killed When Truck Driver Crashes Into Boathouse (AP)
  


• Flagstaff, AZ: Hit-and-Run Road Rager Intentionally Runs Down Pedestrian (Daily Sun)


• Skippack, PA: Pedestrian Hit, Hospitalized, Ticketed for Jaywalking (Reporter)


• Baltimore, MD: Man Hit and Killed; Police Cite "Pedestrian Error" (Sun)


• Portland, OR: Driver Said to Be Chasing Skater Flips SUV in Park (Jalopnik)


• Caldwell, ID: Woman Crushed to Death By Garage Door at Paramedics Station (AP)
  


• Santa Ana, CA: 75-Year-Old Gets 9 Months for Killing 89-Year-Old Ped in Grisly Parking Lot Crash (AP)


• Los Angeles: Trial of "Dr. Road Rage" Underway (Streetsblog LA)
  


• Los Angeles: "Sarah Connor Chronicles" Actor Thomas Dekker Hits Cyclist, Charged With DUI (S-L)


• Cleveland: Browns CB Eric Wright Uninjured After Flipping Car (AP)
  

Trends and Other News

• TA, TSTC to Host Vehicular Homicide Symposium, Featuring Cy Vance (Streetsblog 1, 2)
  


• Daily News: Distracted Cab Drivers Are Only a Problem for Their Passengers (Streetsblog)


• Brooklyn CB 10 Wants DOT Study of Crash-Plagued Bay Ridge Intersection (Post)


• Will No-Nonsense Nassau DA Kathleen Rice Run for Attorney General? (Daily Politics)


• Jon Stewart Rips CNN for Driver-Distracting Cellphone App (Zimbio)
  


• Cellphone Users Too Dazed to Notice Clown Riding Unicycle (Well)
  


• Hummer Drivers Get Five Times as Many Tickets as Nat'l Average (Consumer Reports)


• Ford Recalls 4.5M Vehicles Due to Fire Risk; Crown Vics Not on the List (Consumerist)


• Westfield, NJ, Mayoral Candidates Campaign on Safer Streets (S-L)


• Boston Globe Continues Anti-"Jaywalking" Media Blitz 
  


• San Francisco Embarks on New Ped Safety Initiative (Streetsblog SF)
  


• Deaf and Blind Pedestrians Get Attention From Minnesota Transpo Officials (Star Trib)


• In Columbia, MO, It Will Soon Be Illegal to Throw Things at People in Wheelchairs (KBIA)
  


• Instead of Criminalizing Walking, Cities Should Make It Safer (Car-Free in Big D)
  

* Since the week of June 8
** Drivers charged for deaths since the week of June 8, based on latest available reports
*** This incident is not reflected in the "Fatal Crashes" tally

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Parking Space Stand-Off Ends with Broken Foot, Lawsuit

Parking Space Stand-Off Ends with Broken Foot, Lawsuit: "

New Yorkers' age-old battle for parking was parodied in the classic Seinfeld episode 'The Parking Space.'

A sushi chef who tried to 'hold' a parking space for his manager by standing in the street ended up with a broken foot and other injuries after an irate driver tried to claim the space. Ke Hai Du says it all started around 5 p.m. on October 9th, when he noticed the space become available in front of the Peck Slip restaurant Suteishi. He dashed outside to save the space while his manager got her car, but before she arrived driver Paul Todd pulled up with plans of his own.

Du's lawyer Lawrence Glynn tells the Post that after Du informed Todd that he was saving the spot, Todd 'inched forward and hit him in the knees. Du then threw up his arms like, 'I can't believe you just hit me.' Then the guy decided he really wanted the spot and hit the gas and [Du] couldn't get out of the way.' As Du writhed on the ground in agony with a broken foot, his manager yelled at Todd, who allegedly retorted, 'I would do it again.' That's hardball!

Police were called but treated the assault as a traffic incident and didn't arrest Todd, who drove off as Du was being loaded into an ambulance. The incident left him with a broken foot, torn ligaments, and head, neck and back injuries. He's now hobbling around on a black cane, and tells the Daily News, 'That car is a weapon. You could kill someone with it, you know?' According to court papers filed yesterday, he's suing Todd for $5 million.

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“New York” Post to Pedestrians: Drop Dead

“New York” Post to Pedestrians: Drop Dead: "

Can't make the light in time? In the eyes of the Post, you're a scofflaw.

In case you missed it, the New York Post officially ceded the right to speak for "real New Yorkers" this morning, when it printed a piece of anti-pedestrian pabulum masquerading as a prescription for street safety. Noting that 178 people died while walking or biking in New York City last year, the paper zealously singled out one class of user for the mayhem on our streets: pedestrians.

If only New Yorkers stopped jaywalking, the Post posits, we wouldn't suffer so much needless death and destruction. Adding to a news-ish feature on reckless pedestrians published yesterday, the paper bemoans "jaywalking's steep toll" but says nothing about the rampant speeding and lawless driving that make the simple act of crossing the street so risky. No mention of the fact that many city streets are so wide that elderly New Yorkers can't get across during the allotted time. No indication that the Post editors have the slightest clue about engineering and enforcement improvements like leading pedestrian intervals, red light and speeding cameras, and, most obvious of all, wider sidewalks, which hold the most promise for improving street safety.

It takes a special kind of windshield perspective to look around at the vehicular carnage in New York City -- the hundreds of lives lost and thousands of injuries suffered every year -- and point fingers at the most vulnerable people on the street. You'd think real New Yorkers would recognize that the only way to make our streets safer is to embrace our inherent strength as a walking city. So, I'm curious: Do any Post editors actually live here?

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Streetfilms: Drivers Behaving Rudely

Streetfilms: Drivers Behaving Rudely: "

Cars blocking crosswalks, drivers failing to yield to pedestrians, unnecessary honking -- New Yorkers have to contend with these violations every day on nearly every corner in the city.

As Streetsblog publisher Mark Gorton says in this Streetfilm, most drivers are not bad or mean people, but few seem to realize how their conduct behind the wheel inconveniences and endangers pedestrians. It's a level of rudeness and carelessness that we tend not to tolerate in other spheres of life, especially when you consider the risks involved in piloting a multi-ton vehicle. New Yorkers can get brusque or nasty on the subway, but you rarely see straphangers engage in behavior that poses an immediate danger to the people around them. So what is it about driving a car that lets people disregard the safety of others?

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UWS Drivers Will Not Feel Need for Speed

UWS Drivers Will Not Feel Need for Speed: "

Google Street View's look at the 'bow-tie'

New Yorkers, fed up with drivers zipping up and down Broadway at breakneck speeds, have demanded a gentler, calmer Upper West Side, and one politician is more than happy to oblige. Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal has proposed placing speed bumps, or new signage, at the Amsterdam-Broadway "bow tie" (the intersection where Amsterdam crosses over the north and southbound lanes of Broadway on 71st Street—the one where a taxi cab drove into a subway station) to slow traffic down, reports WCBS 2.

The area is considered by some to be the epicenter of a pedestrian nightmare. 'You never know when to cross because there's cars coming from three different directions,' Betsy Alpert told WCBS 2. 'So you kinda like wait for the light to say walk and then run!'

But not everyone feels empathy for amblers and bicyclists. One woman sniffed, 'Making it safer for them? They're already supposed to know what they can do and what they can't do. A lot of times when a cyclist gets hit it's his own fault.'

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Cop Cars Banned From Parking On Brooklyn Sidewalk!

Cop Cars Banned From Parking On Brooklyn Sidewalk!: "

'the poor policing in the getto,' via noneck's Flickr

In a radical move, the DOT will begin prohibiting cops from parking on the sidewalk outside the Hoyt-Schermerhorn subway station in Brooklyn. Officers at Transit Bureau District 30 have parked on the sidewalk for years, but a new pedestrian plaza set to open next month will mean the end of a longstanding police privilege. Pedestrians and straphangers are rejoicing, with Jameer Henson, a law clerk, telling the Daily News, 'In the mornings it always bottlenecks at the top of the steps because there's only like half a sidewalk for the people coming and going to the subway. I won't be sad to see the cars go.'

But law enforcement officers are upset about the law being enforced! 'It's not a very bright idea,' one transit detective tells the News. 'There's literally nowhere for us to park around here. That's why we're on the sidewalk in the first place.' The new pedestrian mall is temporary, but DOT officials plan to extend the sidewalk and make it a permanent gathering space over the next two years. Also a bad idea, says the detective: 'This street's already too crowded. Cars can barely get by as it is with all the traffic and double-parking going on. Just imagine if you have 50 people sitting in the street.' First pedestrians take over the sidewalk, then the streets—next thing you know they'll be spreading a picnic blanket on Ray Kelly's desk!

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