Results tagged “pedestrian”

You know the NY Post was just waiting for a jaywalker to be struck by a vehicle so they could be all "told you so," after printing numerous anti-jaywalking editorials this week.

Are you a chronic jaywalker? Allegedly some cops don't even know how to write a jaywalking ticket — the practice is so widespread in New York that people rarely get punished for it until, as the NY Post points out, they are pinned beneath a double-decker tour bus. One former cop explains, "Jaywalking is an urban cultural issue. There are certain cities where jaywalking has been accepted for 50 years or more, so to stop it is like trying to stop the tide from coming in. You can't address the whole culture through policing."

After a record low number of fatalities from auto accidents in 2007, the number of deaths spiked last year to 292 pedestrians, drivers, passengers, bicyclists and motorcyclists—18 more people than in 2007. According to a report issued by the DOT, pedestrian fatalities last year jumped to 147, seven more than in 2007.

After studying four intersections for 38 hours, Transportation Alternatives, the bicycling, walking and public transit advocacy group, has released a report with suggestions for the NYPD on reducing "the most dangerous driving behaviors." Some of the findings: "Traffic law violations occur three times every minute (157 times an hour) per intersection" and "On average, each intersection had 24 Failure to Yield violations per hour. Failure to Yield is the second most frequent human factor in causing motor vehicle crashes."

Anyone who's followed along with the city's various cycling issues won't find much new in the Daily News's "Special Investigation" today, about how "pedestrians and cars clash over biking boom." There's the requisite quote from a biker-phobic pedestrian, 62-year-old Marjorie Levine: "When I, as a retired woman, walk these streets, I have fear of my safety that I will be hit by these riders and get knocked down." There's the requisite counterpoint from Transportation Alternatives spokesman Wiley Norvell: "We still have a really 'me first' culture on the street, whether you are a pedestrian, a driver or a big rig. The problem is that some of those 'me's' weigh tons and others weigh 110 pounds."

Three pedestrians were killed by drivers in three separate accidents in Brooklyn, Queens, and Manhattan yesterday, but there's one thing that ties the incidents together: As usual, none of the drivers were charged. In Harlem, 73-year-old great-grandmother Vivian Long, a retired teacher's aide, was crossing Amsterdam Avenue with her granddaughter when she was fatally struck by an Access-A-Ride vehicle. (For the record, Access-A-Ride drivers are the worst.) She died at St. Luke's Hospital. In Borough Park, 25-year-old Matvey Smolovich, who according to his relatives had mental problems, was run over by a mini school bus around 10 a.m. after stepping out from between parked cars 100 feet from the crosswalk. His father tells the Daily News, "He left the house without my permission... After this I don't care about anything. My life is ruined." The 55-year-old bus driver stayed at the scene, and the NYPD is investigating, but hasn't arrested anyone. Then in Flushing, Queens, the 19-year-old driver of a Nissan Altima killed a jogger who also stepped into the street from between parked cars. He was rushed to New York Hospital Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Finally, the Nobel Prize winner in economics has weighed in on the city's Greenlight for Midtown plan. Paul Krugman writes on his NY Times blog, "I’m definitely in favor of making part of Broadway a traffic-free area. But you have to wonder — who’s this for? As far as I know, nobody goes to that part of Manhattan anyway — it’s too crowded." Of course, a few of his commenters noticed the Yogi Berra-homage, with some even demanding he acknowledge the legendary Yankees catcher-philosopher.

Here's the first peek at the new look of Times Square without a vehicle in sight as part of the "Greenlight for Midtown" program, which began today. The early shot looking down Broadway and Seventh Avenue from 45th Street comes from Streetsblog, which says, "It's obviously way too soon to judge how this remarkable experiment is working but today, at least, car-free Broadway appears to be a huge hit. "

      

Tomorrow is the start of the city's "Greenlight for Midtown" program, which involves banning vehicles on Broadway between 42nd and 47th Streets (by Times Square) and between 33rd and 35th Street (by Herald Square). The city hopes that traffic congestion can be reduced by "reconnecting the street grid on 6th and 7th Avenues and giving space to pedestrians on Broadway." According to the Department of Transportation, the plan will result in "Traffic lights with up to 66% more green time," "Significant travel time improvements on Sixth and Seventh Avenues," "Safer and simpler crossings for pedestrians," and "Faster bus speeds for 70,000 daily riders."

From the NY Post: "A man died after he was hit by a drunk driver in Harlem last night -- and his ambulance got into an accident while rushing him to a hospital, officials said. The 20-year-old victim was struck at West 120th Street and Seventh Avenue at around 10:30 p.m. His ambulance, en route to St. Luke's Hospital, collided with a car at Cathedral Parkway and Manhattan Avenue." He was pronounced dead at the hospital. The Post adds that the driver in the initial crash was arrested for DWI.

Good news, seven blocks of Bedford Avenue will become a pedestrian-only zone again on select Saturdays as Williamsburg Walks returns for the summer.

The police are investigating the horrifying death of a man who was struck by a SUV in Queens and then dragged by another van for 20 miles into Brooklyn. The NYPD, who found a broken iPhone and a Western Union receipt in the man's pockets, have just identified the victim, whose body was extremely damaged: According to CityRoom, the victim was Guido Salvador Carabajo-Jarra, who had just turned 26 on Tuesday.

Today, the 4th Annual Memorial Ride and Walk, organized by the Street Memorial Project, is taking place. The Memorial Ride and Walk visits the sites where bicyclists and pedestrians were killed—according to Transportation Alternatives, "There were 14 known bicyclist fatalities and more than 100 pedestrian deaths in 2008, according to media reports."

Chances are you're not trying to ride your bike anywhere today in this mess, but anyone who's tried to pedal over the bridges connecting Brooklyn with Manhattan this week was in for a treacherous trip, because the city has yet to adequately plow or salt the bike and pedestrian paths. As of last night, much of the Williamsburg Bridge path (pictured) remained impassible on two wheels, and commenters on Streetsblog say both the Manhattan Bridge and the Brooklyn Bridge remained unsalted and icy.

The Queens DA's officer announced that a cop faces assault charges after beating a pedestrian who was crossing Queens Boulevard. Last month, Geoffrey Hollinden was crossing the treacherous 12-lane road at 109th Street when, the NY Times reports, a car driven by off-duty narcotics cop Jamel Dennis nearly hit him. "Hollinden pounded on the car... as it passed," then Dennis got of his car and "dragged [Hollinden] to the boulevard’s service road, lifted him to shoulder height and slammed him to the ground, knocking him unconscious." Hollinden was hospitalized for days, with injuries including cranial bleeding and herniated disc. An eyewitness had copied the car's license plate number, but Dennis had claimed he was pushed in a dispute (when asked for a comment, he just said, "That's their side of the story"). Other off-duty cop road rage incidents: In August, two were charged with gang assault and, last year, one fatally shot a man.

      

The DOT's $700,000 transformation of a seven block stretch of Broadway into a pedestrian esplanade with tables, chairs and planters is complete, and the Times has taken the anxious pulse of local workers lounging on their lunchbreaks. The consensus? A nice gesture, but it's only a matter of time before a cab swerves into the tables and turns the urban oasis into a scene of unspeakable carnage. Some choice observations from the men and women on the street:
• Robert Stribley, information architect: “You look around and expect a truck to veer off and plow into you at any moment. It’s not Bryant Park. You’ve got exhaust coming at you. But it’s kind of cool.”
• Vicki Lee, clothing designer: “You hear so many accidents of the cars going out of control and all they have here is plastic pots,” she said. But she dug into her salad and added, “We’re going to roll the dice and eat lunch here today.”
• Karis Durmer, Condé Nast employee: “It’s amazing how a few plants can make you feel removed from all that [noise and traffic].” At one point her conversation was interrupted when the siren of a passing fire truck drowned out her words. “They transport you to a calmer place.”

Surprise! Without a formal public announcement, the city has been moving ahead with a $700,000 plan to shrink part of Broadway in midtown from a four-lane to a two-lane street and use the rest of the space for a public esplanade, which the DOT is calling “Broadway Boulevard.” The change will be complete on August 15th, when the east side of Broadway between 42nd Street and Herald Square is turned over to a bicycle lane and a pedestrian walkway, teeming with cafe tables, chairs, umbrellas and flower-filled planters.

If you've ever been to Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg on a weekend day, you'll know the sidewalks can become overcrowded, especially on the north side. This summer the pedestrian traffic jams will be eliminated...at least for four days. The Brooklyn Paper reports "the city will close Bedford Avenue to traffic, turning the thoroughfare into a pedestrian-only plaza between Metropolitan Avenue and North Ninth Street." The project has been in talks for a while now, and is called Williamsburg Walks, appropriate since it is centered around walking, and doesn't include any special events, street fair type activities or vendors. Sadly, there will be no carpet made of artificial grass...but if you're okay with plain 'ol pavement, head over there any Saturday between July 19th and August 9th.

        

Responding to years of griping (and vigilante sign-making) about the poorly lit, hard-to-locate pedestrian entrances to the Brooklyn Bridge in DUMBO, the city has finally gotten around to putting up some new signs guiding walkers to the bridge. Spearheaded by the DUMBO Improvement District, the makeover was unveiled today by Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz and other officials, and coincides with the bridge’s 125th birthday celebration, which kicks off tomorrow at the Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park in Brooklyn with live music by the Brooklyn Philharmonic, Grucci fireworks, and “an unprecedented light installation spanning the length of the Brooklyn Bridge.”

There are many intersections that are frightening to cross--Allen & Delancey, Adams & Fulton, many intersections along Queens Boulevard--but blog Hawthorne Street put its life on the line to film the dangers of crossing Ocean Avenue at Parkside to get to Prospect Park.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a ceiling collapse at Franklin Ave. and Union St. in Brooklyn, a pedestrian was fatally struck on Queens Blvd. in Woodhaven, Queens, and an unusual rescue on the south bound tower of the Throgs Neck Bridge in Queens.
• An undercover cop forgot to turn off the wire he was wearing while discussing 11 bags of cocaine he seized in a Brooklyn bust that were never turned in. He was also sure to repeatedly refer to black people using the "N-word." [No link yet, but we saw the story on NY1.]
• The mother of an escaped convict is telling him through the press to keep running, and knows some day he'll be exonerated of his crime. We foresee either a one-armed man eventually brought to justice or subsequent imprisonment in a South American jail.
• Civil disobedience on 5th Avenue. We did not realize this, but the city has offered free vendor licenses to military veterans since the Civil War. Dan Rossi is protesting the curtailment of the practice by parking his hot dog cart right in front of The Metropolitan Museum.
• There's an interesting installation at the Gavin Brown Enterprise on Greenwich St. created by artist Urs Fischer, who's dug a hole in the ground. It is an absolutely enormous hole in the ground.
• Michael Douglas is the new announcer for the NBC Nightly News. Anderson Cooper responds that he would also consider a celebrity announcer, like Fran Drescher, Clint Eastwood, Paul Reubens, or Cher.
• Macy's is going to stay open 24 hours a day until Christmas Eve. Those are going to be some tired elves.
• A siamese cat named Yoda was bludgeoned to death in an Upper East Side doorman building. Sarah Favorite, the girlfriend of Yoda's owner, was arrested and is being charged with aggravated animal cruelty.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a pedestrian was struck on Wythe and Metropolitan Ave. in Brooklyn, an overturned police car on Gun Hill Rd. in the Bronx, and a bank robbery on Austin Rd. in Queens.
• Joseph Jirovec, one of the teenagers accused of the Hannukah Q train hate crime, says that he and his friends were the victims. He said the fight began only after a racial slur was directed at one of his party and a knife was brandished towards them.
• A commission established by Gov. Spitzer is recommending that the SUNY system of public universities in New York be allowed to vary tuition from school to school and raise tuitions without authorization from the state legislature.
• A commercial laundry worker found a discarded fetus among bed sheets collected from a Brooklyn hospital.
• The father of a teenager testified that he didn't mean to shoot another young man when he pulled a gun on him at his home, but that he was attempting to protect his son and the gun went off when the other man tried to grab it from him.
• A 59-year-old Queens woman got her hair cut for the first time in 45 years.
• The MTA is increasing the frequency of service on the L train over the weekends starting tomorrow. Expanded weekday service on the 7 train is scheduled to begin Monday.
• Why don't pregnant women tip over? The Times reports.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a bank robbery on Austin St. in Queens, a pedestrian struck off Balfour Pl. and Empire Blvd. in Brooklyn, and a rescue on Bank St. in Manhattan.
• The Domino Sugar factory on Brooklyn's waterfront has achieved landmark status.
• David Chase is heading to court to face a former municipal court judge who claims he came up with an idea for a show about a northern NJ mob family.
• David Blaine's next stunt of endurance in the Big Apple will be a tribute to I-bankers and lawyers logging billable hours, as he attempts to stay awake for as long as humanly possibly. The magic? No cocaine.
• Led Zeppelin may be traveling back to NYC for a return engagement. The songs remain the same.
• The men convicted in the 1989 "wilding" Central Park rape attack case have been given the go-ahead to update their lawsuits against the city.
• A former waitress at the strip club Scores is suing one of the managers for sexual harassment.
• New York City as retirement village.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: shots fired on 166th St. and the Grand Concourse in the Bronx, a pedestrian struck at Berry St. and Division Ave. in Brooklyn, and a found body on Richmond Valley and Arthur Kill on Staten Island.
• Still searching for the Staten Island ninja burglar, police questioned New York Post photographer Ron Romano because of his ninja-like ability to tightrope walk.
• A huge hole in the middle of Brooklyn's Pacific Street provides rude awakenings for drivers who don't see it.
• Mark it. Police Commissioner Ray Kelly says he has no intention of running for Mayor.
• The City of New York was found liable for the 2004 mauling of a toddler in the Bronx, because a police officer gave a pit bull to a mother who had never handled the dog before.
• The loudest neighborhoods in NYC, based on the number of noise complaints. The Bronx is blasting.
• With two weeks to go before Christmas, customers are lining up day and night to get a hand on a Nintendo Wii game system.
• Brooklyn District Attorney Charles J. Hynes describes the sub-premium mortgage meltdown as equivalent to the crack epidemic of the 1980s.
• And w00t is Merriam-Webster's word of the year.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: an armed robbery on Washington Ave. in the Bronx, a bank robbery on 18th Ave. in Brooklyn, and a pedestrian struck on 69th St. and Queens Blvd. in Queens.
• Amidst "barbs and accusations," talks between studios and the writers guild appear to have broken down. Repeats will continue, as will Seth Meyers' long circular picketing sojourn.
• Animals at the Queens City Zoo will be receiving special holiday culinary treats to chow down on every weekend this month.
• Some news outlets use the word "reorganized," but three more city schools are being closed due to disappointing performance. The total is now 13.
• Tomorrow is a great opportunity to visit five historic homes in Flushing, Queens that are generally not open to the public, as part of a holiday tour.
• NBC is refusing to air an ad asking viewers to remember and thank members of the military for their service because it refers to the spot's sponsor's web site, which it deems too political.
• Police are searching for someone who shot a woman in Queens late yesterday. The victim was shot in the chest and found clutching a knife in her hand.
• SantaCon was today; we'll have extended coverage of the bearded bacchanal tomorrow.

A 65-year-old man was killed during his bicycle ride to work when he was struck by an open car door in the bike lane at 6th Avenue and 36th Street. David Smith was then pushed off his bike and into the path of a box truck, which hit him.

A Brookings Institution study reveals that New York is a great place for walking, with 21 out of 21 walkable urban places. But Washington D.C. is the most walkable on a per capita basis while New York is ranked 10th, because New York is measured as the NYC metro area, including NJ, Pennsylvania and Connecticut. The study's author, Christopher B. Leinberger, admits there are issues with the methodology, namely that walkable places are weighted the...

The pedestrian, bicyclist and sensible transportation advocacy group Transportation Alternatives has just launched a new website, Crash Maps: CrashStat 2.0, which maps intersections and streets where pedestrians and bicyclists have been hit by vehicles. It's an updated version of their previous map, and when the information is presented different depending on how closely you zoom into the map. For instance, at one level, it shows crashes (those with injuries as well as the fatal...

Yesterday's gusting winds caused quite a bit of damage besides providing more winter chill. Building scaffolding was knocked over in many places, a tree pinned a man in NJ to the ground, and windows and/or debris fell from two Manhattan skyscrapers, hitting pedestrians. Winds were reported to be at least 40MPH, with gusts at 50MPH, yesterday (wind advisory was in effect until this morning at 4AM). The Buildings Department had asked property owners and construction...

Yesterday morning's rain caused a recently installed sewer main to burst, flooding the basement and parking garage of a Battery Park City luxury apartment building. Water levels reached up to 20 feet. Not only were car owners greeted with news that their vehicles were either submerged or floating on top of sewer water, hundreds of tenants at 90 West Street were evacuated. Fire officials explained that, per WNBC, "rain flooded a re-routed sewer pipe,...