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Two More Pedestrians Are Killed — And Two More Drivers Are Uncharged

The deaths cap a particularly bloody period for pedestrians.

Two Queens pedestrians have died in separate incidents, police said, and neither driver was charged.

On Thursday at around 4:10 p.m., the driver of a massive Lincoln Navigator traveling west on Union Turnpike near 177th Street struck Juana Alland, 78, as she tried to cross Union Turnpike, police said, offering few other details.

The driver remained on the scene and was not charged. Alland was taken to New York Presbyterian Hospital-Queens, where she died.

“The investigation remains,” NYPD said in a statement.

And the pedestrian who was struck on 56th Road in Maspeth on last Friday at 1:20 a.m. died of her injuries two days later at Elmhurst Hospital.

In that case, police say Tamika Johnson of Fort Greene, Brooklyn, was crossing 56th Road near 48th Street in an industrial zone when a black SUV traveling east on 56th Road slammed into her and kept on going.

“There are no arrests and the investigation remains ongoing,” the NYPD said.

The two deaths cap a particularly bloody period for pedestrians despite a year where the numbers of road deaths may be less than 200 for the first time in recent memory. The number of drivers, cyclists and pedestrians killed each year in New York City hovers around 240 annually, with a recent peak of 299 in 2013.

Through September, 145 people have died on the streets, putting New York on pace for less than 200.

Photo of Gersh Kuntzman
Tabloid legend Gersh Kuntzman has been with New York newspapers since 1989, including stints at the New York Daily News, the Post, the Brooklyn Paper and even a cup of coffee with the Times. He's also the writer and producer of "Murder at the Food Coop," which was a hit at the NYC Fringe Festival in 2016, and “SUV: The Musical” in 2007. He also writes the Cycle of Rage column, which is archived here.

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