3 Peds Hit on 9th Ave. 2 Dead. Mayor Mike: Where Are You?

6:55 PM EST on February 26, 2007

Like Third Avenue in Brooklyn, Manhattan's Ninth Avenue is emerging as one of New York City's new "Boulevards of Death." This afternoon, the Clinton / Hell's Kitchen Pedestrian Safety Coalition, the community group that has been organizing the Ninth Avenue Renaissance project, broadcast the following news and call to action:

Dear Neighbors
Seventy-five percent of our community members are concerned for their safety because of traffic, while only 6 percent are concerned about crime!
Just two weeks ago, another pedestrian was killed by a truck trurning from Ninth Avenue onto 16th Street. On Friday morning a 55 year old lady with a walker was killed by a bus turning west from Ninth Avenue on 45th Street and last night a young woman was critically injured by a truck turning into the Lincoln Tunnel lanes from 37th street at Ninth Avenue.
In all cases the pedestrians had the light, and the drivers walked away with summons.
We must obtain more enforcement at intersections, officers who care more about pedestrian safety than flow of cars and who are qualified to issue summons.
City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn and the Chair of the Public Safety committee are hosting town hall meetings to give community members the opportunity to voice concerns about and suggest improvements to current police operations in their neighborhoods.
Tuesday, February 27Mc Burney YMCA 125 West 14th Street, btwn 6th - 7th Ave. 6:00pm-8:00pm
We must also change the laws so that the life of a pedestrian is worth more than a summons! Join the hundreds who will gather at City Hall to rally for Pedestrian Safety.
Citywide RallySunday March 4 at 3 pmCity Hall
Please join us. These are critical times and we must speak up for our safety.
Best
Christine Berthet , Co founder Chekpeds

Aaron Naparstek

AARON NAPARSTEK is the founder and former editor-in-chief of Streetsblog. Based in Brooklyn, New York, Naparsteks journalism, advocacy and community organizing work has been instrumental in growing the bicycle network, removing motor vehicles from parks, and developing new public plazas, car-free streets and life-saving traffic-calming measures across all five boroughs. Naparstek is the author of "Honku: The Zen Antidote for Road Rage" (Villard, 2003), a book of humorous haiku poetry inspired by the endless motorist sociopathy observed from his apartment window. Prior to launching Streetsblog, Naparstek worked as an interactive media producer, pioneering some of the Web's first music web sites, online communities, live webcasts and social networking services. Naparstek is currently in Cambridge with his wife and two young sons where he is enjoying a Loeb Fellowship at Harvard University's Graduate School of Design. He has a master's degree from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism and a bachelor's degree from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. Naparstek is a co-founder of the Park Slope Neighbors community group and the Grand Army Plaza Coalition. You can find more of his work here: http://www.naparstek.com.

3 Peds Hit on 9th Ave. 2 Dead. Mayor Mike: Where Are You?

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