Jimmy Van Bramer

Yesterday, DOT announced that Queens Boulevard, one of the city's deadliest streets, would be part of its arterial slow zone initiative that reduces speed limits from 30 to 25 mph. But unlike other streets in the program, Queens Boulevard would have its limit dropped from 35 to 30 mph. Trouble is, the speed limit on Queens Boulevard is already 30 mph, and it's been that way since 2001.

The parking-flanked space in the middle of Queens Boulevard in Sunnyside, beneath the vaulted elevated train viaduct at 40th and 46th Streets, today looks more forgotten than fun. The Sunnyside Shines BID is hoping to change that, and their plan to upgrade the pedestrian space was recently accepted by NYC DOT's pedestrian plaza program.

The intersection of Northern Boulevard and 61st Street in Woodside, where an unlicensed truck driver making a left turn through a crosswalk killed 8-year-old Noshat Nahian on his way to school last December, is set for some pedestrian safety fixes after months of work by elected officials and street safety advocates.

Kumar Ragunath, 64, came to New York from Guyana in 1987. Five years later, he and his wife bought a house in Jamaica near Richmond Hill. He loved to play cricket and listen to Indian music, and he kept working through his retirement to help fund college for his six grandchildren. Ragunath had been out of work since August, but recently found a job at the Queens Plaza Holiday Inn.

City Council members today expressed strong support for Vision Zero, bike-share expansion, and other safe streets initiatives, but it's not clear how they will be funded.

City Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer, state electeds, and advocates gathered in Queens this morning to call on Mayor Bill de Blasio to make Northern Boulevard a Vision Zero priority by making hazardous intersections safer for pedestrians.

We wrote last week how Lou Young of CBS 2 blew an opportunity to educate viewers on the merits of potential safe street improvements on the Upper West Side. In covering a press conference in Queens convened by Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer, Young's colleague Andrea Grymes filed a story that does a much better job reflecting the perils posed by reckless drivers.

Luis Bravo's death at the hands of a hit-and-run driver wasn't the first warning sign about the dangers of walking along Broadway between 69th Street and Northern Boulevard in Woodside. In March of last year, Ed Surmenian, who lives at the intersection with 61st Street, said drivers regularly speed down Broadway and contacted Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer to complain.

Two weeks after a woman was killed while crossing Queens Plaza, Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer, joined by other elected officials and community leaders, stood at the busy intersection to call for better NYPD crash investigations, safety measures from DOT, and a citywide zero-tolerance policy for pedestrian deaths. Van Bramer's press conference comes just days before the City Council's public safety and transportation committees hold an oversight hearing on reforming NYPD crash investigations.