FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM JANUARY 11, 2018 • THE QUEENS COURIER 3
Vision Zero's making Queens safer: Mayor
BY ANGELA MATUA
amatua@qns.com / @angelamatua
Mayor Bill de Blasio visited an
NYPD garage in Woodside on
Monday to announce that 2017 saw
the fewest traffi c fatalities on record,
with Queens beating its previous
record low from 2011.
Citywide, pedestrian fatalities
fell 32 percent since 2016 with 101
pedestrian deaths in 2017 compared
to 148 in 2016. Overall, 214 people
were lost in traffi c crashes in 2017
compared to 231 in 2016. Th ese
numbers mark the lowest level of
traffi c deaths since the city began
keeping records in 1910.
In Queens, there were 59 traffi c
fatalities in 2017 compared to 65 in
2016, marking a 9 percent decline.
Th e previous low was recorded in
2011 with 63 traffi c deaths.
“Everyone knows when we think
about this history in our city, when
we think about the lives that were
lost our minds immediately go to
Queens Boulevard,” de Blasio said.
“For too long in this city the idea
was tolerated that there was a major
thoroughfare that was known as the
Boulevard of Death. Th at was never
acceptable.”
Councilmen Jimmy Van Bramer,
who represents Long Island City,
Sunnyside, Woodside and parts of
Astoria, and Robert Holden, who
represents Middle Village, Maspeth,
Glendale, parts of Woodside and
Ridgewood, attended the press conference
to tout the initiative’s successes.
Holden, the former Juniper Park
Civic Association president, oft en
criticized the initiative and the
Department of Transportation’s
(DOT) plans to add more bicycle
lanes in his district.
But he acknowledged that his criticism
“was wrong.”
“I was one of those Doubting
Th omases on the civic level,” he said.
“We’ve heard it before from mayors:
‘We’re going to correct this, we’re
going to slow them down.’ I want
to thank the mayor. You can’t argue
with saving lives. You can never
argue that that’s paramount here.”
Holden added that his district is
experiencing issues with the traffi
c app Waze, which provides drivers
with alternative routes to avoid
traffi c. Th e councilman said that
because of traffi c calming measures
installed in major thoroughfares like
Queens Boulevard, more drivers are
using side streets to circumvent traffi
c.
“Th e bigger picture here is in
Maspeth, we don’t have a subway,”
he said. “In Middle Village, we live
a mile and a half away from a subway
so we need to address those
concerns. Public transportation is
important obviously if were going to
change people’s mindsets on driving
everywhere in New York.”
One of the biggest projects that
the city focused on as a result of
Vision Zero was the re-imagining
of Queens Boulevard. Th e major
thoroughfare was referred to as the
Boulevard of Death because of the
high number of traffi c fatalities. In
1990, 18 people were killed at the
thoroughfare.
Th e fi rst phase of the redesign
began in 2015 and included the
installation of a protected bike lane.
It covered the 1.3-mile stretch of
the thoroughfare between Roosevelt
Avenue and 73rd Street.
In the summer of 2016, the DOT
began the second phase of the redesign,
which covered 74th Street
through Elliot Avenue. Th e plan
faced backlash from Community
Board 4, which approved the redesign
with one major stipulation: no
bike lanes.
Prior to the Community Board’s
vote, a group of bicyclists gathered
at the spot where Asif Rahman, 22,
was killed aft er he tried swerving
away from a double parked car with
his bike. Rahman was hit by a truck
and ever since the accident in 2008,
his mother Lizi has advocated for
major safety upgrades.
Th e mayor approved the plan
despite the board’s vote and the
third phase from Eliot Avenue
through Yellowstone Boulevard was
fi nished last year.
Th e fact that no one has died on
Queens Boulevard in three years is
one of the biggest successes in this
city,” Van Bramer said. “You cannot
understate how important it is
that 10 years ago, fi ve years ago, 20
years ago it was absolutely normalized
that 10, 12, 17 people per year
where killed in crashes on Queens
Boulevard.”
He also spoke about 8-year-old
Noshat Nahian who was hit and
killed by a truck in 2013 as he was
crossing Northern Boulevard on his
way to school.
“Th e face on his mother, the agony
she was enduring is something that
you would never want any human
being to face,” Van Bramer said.
“Th at family was so devastated that
they moved back to Bangladesh.”
According to data from the
National Highway Traffi c Safety
Administration, traffic fatalities
have increased nationwide more
than 13 percent from 2013 through
2016. In New York City, there has
been a 28 percent decrease in traffi c
fatalities since 2013.
“I’m really proud of Queens today
because Queens is leading the way
and Queens Boulevard is leading the
way because if you can make Queens
Boulevard safer you can make any
street in this city or country safer,”
Van Bramer said.
Report: City failed to vet
homeless hotels
Th e Department of Homeless Services (DHS) didn’t
properly screen hotels across the city for criminal
activities before housing homeless families with children
there, according to a Department of Investigation
(DOI) report released on Jan. 8.
While the report cited no specifi c wrongdoings in
Queens, the investigation encompassed all 57 of the
city’s commercial hotels that housed homeless families
with children from January through August of 2017.
Queens has 24 such hotels, more than any other borough,
and there were 40 total arrests made at the hotels
during the investigation period.
Prostitution accounted for 24 of the arrests, 12 were
for assault, and four were drug-related.
“Th is is reprehensible, but not surprising when
you’re talking about the DHS and the homeless situation,”
said Councilman Robert Holden of the 30th
District. “It sounds like the city is so desperate that
they won’t even look at that. When you have children
in there, that’s disgraceful on so many levels.”
According to the report, the DHS has agreed to
implement the DOI’s recommendations to include
a public safety component that will identify possible
criminal activity when reviewing prospective hotels,
and to have homeless families with children occupy
entire hotels or withdraw them from hotels entirely.
Ryan Kelley
Flushing hotel robber
on the lam
Cops are still looking for an allegedly armed man
who stole cash from a Flushing hotel on Christmas Eve.
At 5:40 p.m. on Dec. 24, law enforcement sources
said, the unidentifi ed male suspect entered the
Flushing Motel, located at 34-50 Linden Place, and
asked the 21-year-old male clerk at the front desk if
there were any available rooms. Th e perpetrator then
left the motel and returned moments later with a suitcase,
asking that it be stored in the back.
Following the exchange, police stated, the suspect
then simulated a gun by having his hand in his coat
pocket and demanded cash from the employee. Th e
employee complied, handing over $580. Th e suspect
then fl ed the scene in an unknown direction.
Anyone with information about the robbery can call
Crime Stoppers at 800-577-TIPS.
Emily Davenport
Electric buses making a
trial run in LIC
Th e MTA will be introducing all-electric buses to a
Queens-to-Brooklyn bus route as part of a pilot program.
Governor Andrew Cuomo announced on Jan. 8
that the buses, leased from the manufacturer Proterra,
will run on the B32 line between Long Island City
and Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Th e MTA will install
charging stations at the Grand Avenue Depot in
Maspeth and the Williamsburg Bridge Plaza to quickly
recharge the buses between runs.
According to the governor, the MTA is giving these
buses a three-year trial run as part of an ongoing eff ort
to make its bus fl eet more modern and eco-friendly.
Th e authority is leasing buses from Proterra and another
electric bus manufacturer, New Flyer, and will order
an additional 60 all-electric buses based on the pilot
program’s results.
Riders also stand to benefi t with free Wi-Fi and USB
charging ports available on the electric buses. Th is
allows commuters to recharge their mobile devices
while using them as they travel.
Robert Pozarycki
Photo via New York City Mayoral Photography Offi ce
The mayor visited Woodside to announce the record decrease in traffi c fatalities in the city.