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Google Maps Street View image of East Broadway; inset of memorial for Hayley Ng and Diego Martinez, via WCBS 2
After the Thursday incident where an unoccupied van—left in reverse—barreled into a group of pre-schoolers on a Chinatown sidewalk, killing two children and injuring many others, lawmakers demanded that the city better enforce traffic in the neighborhood's busy streets. The NYPD deemed it an "accident," because the driver thought he put the vehicle in park when he jumped out to make a delivery, but State Senator Daniel Squadron and Manhattan Borough President outlined a nine-point plan to prevent further tragedy and demanded the city take action immediately.
The plan (full details after the jump) includes "'zero tolerance' traffic enforcement, banning of trucks and buses from traversing local streets, more pedestrians safety measures such as bollards and speed bumps, and a comprehensive traffic management plan to serve residents, businesses and vehicles passing through the neighborhood." Stringer said, "Chinatown is a bustling 21st century neighborhood, but as one of the oldest parts of the City, it is saddled with an 18th century pedestrian infrastructure. Chinatown residents and businesses have suffered from dangerous traffic conditions for too long." The Daily News reports, "Chinatown's zip code had 25 fatalities and 1,149 injuries from 1995 to 2005, more fatalities than any other Manhattan zip code."
Squadron added, "While no one could ever have predicted the precise circumstances of yesterday's tragedy, anyone who has spent time in Chinatown knows that the streets and sidewalks are overcrowded and overburdened. It is high time to bring modern transportation's three 'E's' - education, engineering, and enforcement - to creating safer streets for Chinatown."
Four-year-old Hayley Ng and three-year-old Diego Martinez were killed in the incident. People had feared that four-year-old Emma Olsen (pictured) was seriously injured, but she only needed a few stitches. Her mother Cindy Yin told the Post, "She was the third in the line. The first two were hit, but she was just grazed and she had a deep cut and she bled very badly, but she is doing very well." Yin is very upset by her daughter's classmates' deaths, telling the News the two kids attended Emma's recent birthday, "Little Diego hugged Emma at the party. Hayley wanted a pink balloon, and there weren't enough pink ones for all the girls. They were both very smart, beautiful, loving children."
The News mentions there is a memorial fund for Hayley and Diego: "Memorial donations can be made to the Hayley and Diego Memorial Fund through the Cathay Bank, 16-18 East Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10002. The money will go to the families of the two children."
The plan offered by Squadron and Stringer:
Two members of the Civic Center Residents Coalition spoke unhappily about the city's lack of initiative regarding the area: Jan Lee said, "The lack of cooperation between the city and Chinatown has been a real frustration," while Jeanie Chin explained, "This community has been a dumping ground for traffic. The Brooklyn Bridge reconfiguation is going to bring thousands of vehicles needlessly through Chinatown. The city and DOT have been studying Chinatown traffic for years, with little result. We need stronger measures."
- Better coordination with community-based planning efforts and priorities. The City must do a better job of working with Community Boards and other community organizations, drawing on the invaluable input that only neighborhood residents and businesses can provide. The City must respect and acknowledge community priorities such as the re-opening of Park Row, and work with local stakeholders, in order to build consensus behind comprehensive traffic management plans. The City should provide planning and community organizing resources to organizations such as the Chinatown Working Group, which has brought together many of Chinatown's diverse stakeholders, in order to allow them to undertake a community-based process for meeting Chinatown's traffic concerns and related planning issues, with cultural and linguistic sensitivity to the area's unique character.
- A comprehensive study of neighborhood traffic and pedestrian patterns that "connects the dots" between local accident "hot spots" and traffic flow at major arteries such as East Broadway, the Bowery, Canal and Allen Streets. The study must draw heavily on community input, document the traffic patterns of greatest public safety concern, and use detailed modeling to demonstrate the impacts of potential traffic engineering solutions.
- Reconfigured sidewalk space that privileges and protects Chinatown's residents, workers, shoppers, and bicyclists, and is sensitive to the unique character of Chinatown's sidewalks. Chinatown is a "street-level" neighborhood that depends on the liveliness of its sidewalks. The City must work to expand sidewalks to increase pedestrian space, make the area more hospitable to pedestrians and bicyclists, and keep the sidewalks clear of street furniture, garbage, and other obstacles that infringe on public safety.
- Comprehensive coordination of trucks, buses and other high-intensity vehicular uses. Chinatown's cultural prominence, and its location between the East River Bridges and the Holland Tunnel, has made it a center of commercial traffic and regional travel. The City must respond to these conditions by enforcing truck route zones and effectively managing bus layovers, as Manhattan Community Board 3 has consistently recommended. Commercial trucks must not be allowed to traverse local streets that were not built to withstand their impact, and buses must not be allowed to create unsafe traffic conditions. The City should also explore strategic management of commercial deliveries, in order to allow small businesses to thrive without causing dangerous conditions for pedestrians.
- Increased traffic calming measures, such as curb extensions, speed tables and leading pedestrian intervals. While the City has implemented some traffic calming efforts on Chinatown's main roadways, traffic calming measures need to be instituted more quickly and more extensively, with specific attention to areas near schools and senior centers.
- Comprehensive parking strategies that create the necessary space for businesses to receive deliveries without requiring double-parking or inviting vehicles to park on the sidewalk.
- Coordination of major City-initiated projects, such as the upcoming Brooklyn Bridge renovation, which will have significant traffic impacts on this neighborhood.
- Modern, flexible traffic reduction techniques like congestion pricing and variable market-rate street parking that will encourage public transit use and keep traffic flowing calmly and safely through Chinatown.
- Effective and sensible enforcement of traffic laws. Illegal and dangerous driving should not be tolerated in any neighborhood, but the need for enforcement in Chinatown is particularly acute because of its narrow streets, heavy commercial activity, and immediate proximity to major bridges, highways and thoroughfares. While the City must respect and meet business' need to receive deliveries, NYPD and DOT should collaborate on an enforcement strategy that creates an atmosphere of "zero tolerance" for dangerous driving patterns that have become commonplace throughout Chinatown. Local elected officials must also commit to providing NYPD and DOT with sufficient resources to address the situation with the number of officers and staff that the community deserves.
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Isn't the answer to this and all other traffic problems more bicycle lanes?
well if they were bikelanes that physically separated the sidewalk from traffic they would have prevented this... ;)
And I thought the most expedient solution would be mandatory sterilization based on IQ...
"Chinatown's zip code had 25 fatalities and 1,149 injuries from 1995 to 2005, more fatalities than any other Manhattan zip code."
Well, heck. Some zip code has to be highest. The fact that it's Chinatown's zip code is scarcely surprising, given the area's very heavy pedestrian and vehicular traffic.
It would be more meaningful if neighborhoods could be ranked by traffic volume, and then compared to fatality and injury numbers. For all we know Chinatown's fatality/injury rights might not turn out especially high when expressed in this manner. I don't know if sufficient statistics exist, however.
Hopefully something positive will come out of this horrible tragedy, like the rethinking of the traffic situation that's being put forth, but I'm not sure what can be done about some asshole who fails to know the difference between park and reverse before jumping out of his van.
Well said. I still don't see how it was possible for him to do this, given how fast a car starts moving when it is left in gear. Carelessness of this nature that results in such tragic consequences isn't an "accident" -- it's negligence, and should be punished. Why should drivers start paying more attention when it's so easy to avoid suffering the consequences for one's actions?
I don't know what can be done. if you close streets, it will just transfer it over to other local streets.
I do know that area of lower manhattan seems to have gotten worse, to me at least.
I'm glad that cute lil girl is OK and my thoughts to the other little ones.
Now we know how many children have to die before the city deals with the traffic mess in Chinatown:(
I'm also waiting for the assholes who will blame this on the children and their parents.
Jan Lee said, "The lack of cooperation between the city and Chinatown has been a real frustration
Of course there weren't any cooperation! You didn't initialize a riot nor did you organize a loud angry 10,000 person rally at city hall. Once you start doing those things, then govt will take notice and cooperate.
I would love to see some easing of congestion [both vehicular and pedestrian] in Chinatown, and I hope that some of these proposals are implemented to improve the situation.
But what happened to these unfortunate kids wasn't a traffic, congestion, or urban design problem; it was an ignorant-douchebag problem. Letting someone legally be so dangerous doesn't really encourage the behavior, but it reinforces the idea that when cars hit things or people it's by accident, and not the fault of the person supposed to be responsible for that vehicle.
It would be a crime to "accidentally" discharge a firearm into a crowd, and it should be criminal to let your car crush a group of kids when you could have prevented it.
I’m the mother of Hayley Ng. I want to thank everyone for their comments. Hayley was the sweetest child. My heart is broken. I cannot tell you the pain and sorrow my family feels on the loss of our most precious daughter. This year we had plans to go to Disney World and I was just about to book tickets. Now those plans are gone. Everything is gone. Life is so empty without her. Her smile, her silliness, her love…..As I write, tears are flowing from my eyes. How can my husband and I go on day after day without her??? It’s so painful. Please help us make sure no other parent has to suffer the horror of losing their child. Please call the Manhattan’s DA office 212-335-9000 and tell them this has to stop now by investigating this case properly with a grand jury. There have been too many conflicting news reports from eye witnesses at the scene. My family is desperately searching for the truth to help us move on. If they do nothing, more innocent children will be taken from us. If there is one thing, please do not forget Hayley and Diego. Thank you, May Ng
Dear May,
We don’t know each other but I would like to say to you, I am so, so sorry for your loss. I know the days and nights must be so hard for you and your family. I truly wish there was something that I can say that will make the pain go away.
When I first heard the news as it unfolded that afternoon I was horrified and immediately hoped it had nothing to do with the kids from Red Apple. You see, my daughter had gone to Red Apple up until last September, just before she started Pre-K. So, as former Red Apple parents we made lifelong friends there and our daughter as well. That was our connection.
Fate was not on our side that afternoon, our hearts dropped when we learned Red Apple was indeed involved and that in a matter of minutes 2 small children were suddenly gone, so tragically and so senselessly. We had hoped that our daughter’s friends were all okay but immediately felt even more ashamed and guilty knowing that 2 so beautiful children will ultimately pay the price for our hopes.
So, here I write to you today, in some respects to apologize and to thank you and your family for taking on this burden and for keeping someone else’s dream alive. I know you did not ask for this and the unfairness of it all. Which is why no words I can say here will ever bring the solace you need and seek.
From this day on, whenever we hear something or think about Red Apple again it will forever be different. We will always think of little Hayley and remember her and how fate made her a hero.
We did go to Hayley’s wake to say goodbye to her, to apologize to her, and to thank her for her sacrifice. Your daughter was beautiful and her infectious smile shown so brightly through all her pictures. Yes, she was precious. I wished my daughter had known her. They would have gotten along so well.
May, when the time is right, once again you will hold and hug Hayley so ever close and forever. Until then she will watch over you and your family.
Please take care and all the best to you.
You are in our thoughts and prayers. With hope and effort, good will come from this.