Pedestrian in New York by Joel Chaffee
Pedestrian in New York
 New York, NY
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 by Joel Chaffee
 
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There are always flowers in the middle median of McGuinness, which are  
advice enough to stay put on the sidewalk and wait for the walk sign.  
The most frequent accidents in my neighborhood almost always involve  
McGuinness Boulevard, a four-lane road stretching to the Pulaski  
Bridge into Queens to the north, ending abruptly at the BQE. Drivers  
on McGuinness seem to lose their minds and any sense of conscientious  
driving as they hurtle to and from the BQE.
 
It interesting that a 2005 "Neighborhood Problems and Quality of Life"  
report, by Citizens for NYC and Baruch College, found that the chief  
complaint from NYers is "potholes". "Dangerous intersections" slides  
in at number four, behind "litter or garbage" and "street noise."  
"Homeless people on the streets" and "Disruptive bars or nightclubs"  
are at the bottom, in apparent tribute to the Giuliani / Bloomberg  
policies of making the homeless invisible and the nocturnal tame.
 
(In an amazing display of NYers patience, "Lack of public  
transportation" was at the bottom of the list.)
 
Transportation Alternatives, an advocacy group for pedestrians, ranked  
the city's most dangerous neighborhoods in a 2004 report. East 33rd  
Street & Park Avenue taking the gold; and Utica Avenue & Eastern  
Parkway topping the list for Brooklyn.
 
A recent New York Post article, however, details that at 256 traffic  
deaths, 2009 was the safest year in New York history. A 2009  
"Dangerous by Design" report from Surface Transportation Policy  
Partnership and Transportation for America, ranked New York 50th in  
most dangerous cities for pedestrians. New York is off the charts, at  
6 percent, regarding the "percent of workers walking to work." The  
only other city on the list coming close being Boston, at 4.6 percent.
 
Fortunately, City Council, the Mayor's office, and many campaign  
groups are uniting to take action with the campaign, Complete Streets  
Week: Making New York Walkable for All Generations. This campaign  
seeks to study and collect data on the city's most dangerous  
intersections; the data to be put towards refinement in traffic  
organization in the city.
 
The study, the City Council states, aims to detail the "factors that  
impact walker safety including traffic and crossing signals, crosswalk  
markings, and speed limits."
 
Neighbors Allied for Growth-Brooklyn (NAG), a community group, hopes  
that the study will "provide the local police precinct," as well as  
state and city governmental departments, "with data that shows the  
desperate need for both traffic enforcement and traffic calming" in  
the most hazardous locations.
 
Kings County need the attention, and no mistake, with NBCNY reporting  
that Brooklyn has the highest number of pedestrian fatalities of the  
five boroughs.
 
On the other side, a 2007 NYTimes article chided the concerns of  
"groups like Transportation Alternatives," reporting that, "There were  
232 pedestrian deaths in 1910, when records were first kept." Only 24  
less than today's numbers, and this with mostly horse and buggy. The  
numbers "soared to the 700s in the 1920s and peaked in 1929, when 952  
were killed on foot," over two-and-a-half deaths per day. One can take  
solace that such an outrageous number of pedestrian fatalities is no  
longer with us. But the need to reduce the number further, and make a  
walking city safe for walkers - both agile and not - is such a  
credible concern that it seems (forgive me) pedestrian.
 
are always flowers in the middle median of McGuinness, which are  
advice enough to stay put on the sidewalk and wait for the walk sign.  
The most frequent accidents in my neighborhood almost always involve  
McGuinness Boulevard, a four-lane road stretching to the Pulaski  
Bridge into Queens to the north, ending abruptly at the BQE. Drivers  
on McGuinness seem to lose their minds and any sense of conscientious  
driving as they hurtle to and from the BQE.
 
 
 
It interesting that a 2005 "Neighborhood Problems and Quality of Life"  
report, by Citizens for NYC and Baruch College, found that the chief  
complaint from NYers is "potholes". "Dangerous intersections" slides  
in at number four, behind "litter or garbage" and "street noise."  
"Homeless people on the streets" and "Disruptive bars or nightclubs"  
are at the bottom, in apparent tribute to the Giuliani / Bloomberg  
policies of making the homeless invisible and the nocturnal tame.
 
 
 
(In an amazing display of NYers patience, "Lack of public  
transportation" was at the bottom of the list.)
 
 
 
Transportation Alternatives, an advocacy group for pedestrians, ranked  
the city's most dangerous neighborhoods in a 2004 report. East 33rd  
Street & Park Avenue taking the gold; and Utica Avenue & Eastern  
Parkway topping the list for Brooklyn.
 
 
 
A recent New York Post article, however, details that at 256 traffic  
deaths, 2009 was the safest year in New York history. A 2009  
"Dangerous by Design" report from Surface Transportation Policy  
Partnership and Transportation for America, ranked New York 50th in  
most dangerous cities for pedestrians. New York is off the charts, at  
6 percent, regarding the "percent of workers walking to work." The  
only other city on the list coming close being Boston, at 4.6 percent.
 
 
 
Fortunately, City Council, the Mayor's office, and many campaign  
groups are uniting to take action with the campaign, Complete Streets  
Week: Making New York Walkable for All Generations. This campaign  
seeks to study and collect data on the city's most dangerous  
intersections; the data to be put towards refinement in traffic  
organization in the city.
 
 
 
The study, the City Council states, aims to detail the "factors that  
impact walker safety including traffic and crossing signals, crosswalk  
markings, and speed limits."
 
 
 
Neighbors Allied for Growth-Brooklyn (NAG), a community group, hopes  
that the study will "provide the local police precinct," as well as  
state and city governmental departments, "with data that shows the  
desperate need for both traffic enforcement and traffic calming" in  
the most hazardous locations.
 
 
 
Kings County need the attention, and no mistake, with NBCNY reporting  
that Brooklyn has the highest number of pedestrian fatalities of the  
five boroughs.
 
 
 
On the other side, a 2007 NYTimes article chided the concerns of  
"groups like Transportation Alternatives," reporting that, "There were  
232 pedestrian deaths in 1910, when records were first kept." Only 24  
less than today's numbers, and this with mostly horse and buggy. The  
numbers "soared to the 700s in the 1920s and peaked in 1929, when 952  
were killed on foot," over two-and-a-half deaths per day. One can take  
solace that such an outrageous number of pedestrian fatalities is no  
longer with us. But the need to reduce the number further, and make a  
walking city safe for walkers - both agile and not - is such a  
credible concern that it seems (forgive me) pedestrian.
There are always flowers in the middle median of McGuinness, which are  
advice enough to stay put on the sidewalk and wait for the walk sign.  
The most frequent accidents in my neighborhood almost always involve  
McGuinness Boulevard, a four-lane road stretching to the Pulaski  
Bridge into Queens to the north, ending abruptly at the BQE. Drivers  
on McGuinness seem to lose their minds and any sense of conscientious  
driving as they hurtle to and from the BQE.
 
 
 
It interesting that a 2005 "Neighborhood Problems and Quality of Life"  
report, by Citizens for NYC and Baruch College, found that the chief  
complaint from NYers is "potholes". "Dangerous intersections" slides  
in at number four, behind "litter or garbage" and "street noise."  
"Homeless people on the streets" and "Disruptive bars or nightclubs"  
are at the bottom, in apparent tribute to the Giuliani / Bloomberg  
policies of making the homeless invisible and the nocturnal tame.
 
 
 
(In an amazing display of NYers patience, "Lack of public  
transportation" was at the bottom of the list.)
 
 
 
Transportation Alternatives, an advocacy group for pedestrians, ranked  
the city's most dangerous neighborhoods in a 2004 report. East 33rd  
Street & Park Avenue taking the gold; and Utica Avenue & Eastern  
Parkway topping the list for Brooklyn.
 
 
 
A recent New York Post article, however, details that at 256 traffic  
deaths, 2009 was the safest year in New York history. A 2009  
"Dangerous by Design" report from Surface Transportation Policy  
Partnership and Transportation for America, ranked New York 50th in  
most dangerous cities for pedestrians. New York is off the charts, at  
6 percent, regarding the "percent of workers walking to work." The  
only other city on the list coming close being Boston, at 4.6 percent.
 
 
 
Fortunately, City Council, the Mayor's office, and many campaign  
groups are uniting to take action with the campaign, Complete Streets  
Week: Making New York Walkable for All Generations. This campaign  
seeks to study and collect data on the city's most dangerous  
intersections; the data to be put towards refinement in traffic  
organization in the city.
 
 
 
The study, the City Council states, aims to detail the "factors that  
impact walker safety including traffic and crossing signals, crosswalk  
markings, and speed limits."
 
 
 
Neighbors Allied for Growth-Brooklyn (NAG), a community group, hopes  
that the study will "provide the local police precinct," as well as  
state and city governmental departments, "with data that shows the  
desperate need for both traffic enforcement and traffic calming" in  
the most hazardous locations.
 
 
 
Kings County need the attention, and no mistake, with NBCNY reporting  
that Brooklyn has the highest number of pedestrian fatalities of the  
five boroughs.
 
 
 
On the other side, a 2007 NYTimes article chided the concerns of  
"groups like Transportation Alternatives," reporting that, "There were  
232 pedestrian deaths in 1910, when records were first kept." Only 24  
less than today's numbers, and this with mostly horse and buggy. The  
numbers "soared to the 700s in the 1920s and peaked in 1929, when 952  
were killed on foot," over two-and-a-half deaths per day. One can take  
solace that such an outrageous number of pedestrian fatalities is no  
longer with us. But the need to reduce the number further, and make a  
walking city safe for walkers - both agile and not - is such a  
credible concern that it seems (forgive me) pedestrian.
 

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Last updated  New York, NY 10.06.23  by Joel Chaffee

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