Queens

A man who stepped out of his car onto Rockaway Boulevard was struck and killed by an MTA bus driver Sunday.

A motorist who allegedly killed a senior while driving without a license, who police said was speeding, and who was reportedly wanted by authorities on another vehicular charge at the time of the crash, has been charged with a misdemeanor by Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.

As work is set to begin on a state-funded feasibility study to convert the Rockaway Beach Branch into a 3.5-mile park and multi-use path, State Senator Tony Avella -- former City Council member, onetime mayoral hopeful, and current candidate for Queens borough president -- is the latest elected official to line up behind southern Queens transit activists who are trying to stop the greenway plan and instead bring back rail service.

Last night at approximately 7:15 p.m., an unidentified 18 year-old woman was killed by a truck driver while crossing the street at Rockaway Boulevard and 132nd Avenue in Rochdale, Queens. The driver of the 1999 International truck stayed on the scene and was not ticketed or charged with a crime, though NYPD's Collision Investigation Squad is investigating. NYPD has not released the identities of the driver, pending completion of the investigation, or the victim, pending notification of family.

The Dutch Kills neighborhood sits on the northern edge of Long Island City, hemmed in by Northern Boulevard and Queens Plaza, with the East River to the west and Astoria to the north. Dangerous traffic is an everyday presence -- and not just on the main arteries nearby. After a number of car-on-car crashes, neighborhood advocates joined with elected officials yesterday, calling on DOT to implement traffic-calming measures.

Western Queens is set to receive a slate of street safety and bicycle network improvements. The projects will add shared lane markings and bike lanes to neighborhood streets, improve connections to the Astoria waterfront and Greenpoint, and address pedestrian safety at the site of a fatal curb-jumping crash. The progress comes after more than a year of work between DOT and Community Board 2, and coincides with Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer's push for bike-share expansion to Long Island City and Sunnyside.

At a rally this afternoon on the steps of City Hall, Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer called for the city's bike-share program to be expanded to western Queens as quickly as possible.

An elderly woman was killed by an elderly motorist in Queens last weekend.

Clarence snapped these shots of a new Slow Zone in East Elmhurst/Jackson Heights, where DOT is putting in 20 mph signage and street markings, including a wide striped median on 30th Avenue that reduces the number of lanes pedestrians must cross.