Victim about to be taken to New York-Presbyterian Queens (Twitter @Rontkim)
Jan. 2, 2019 By Christian Murray
A pedestrian is in critical condition after being struck while crossing a major Flushing intersection this morning, police said.
The victim, a 59-year-old woman, was crossing Roosevelt Avenue at Main Street at around 7:50 a.m. Wednesday when she was hit by a black Lincoln sedan.
The woman, yet to be identified, was taken New York-Presbyterian Queens hospital, located on Main Street.
The driver stayed on the scene, according to the police.
Assemblymember Ron Kim, who represents Flushing, took to twitter to call for safety improvements at the intersection, where there is a 7- train station entrance.
Kim said that there is a broken escalator at the station (by Macy’s) that is forcing people to cross the street in order to use another entrance.
“For over a year, my constituents have asked @MTA to fix the broken escalator, which is causing people to cross the street to the other entrance. We can’t wait any longer (1/2) – at MTA Subway – Main St (7),” he tweeted.
Another pedestrian was struck today on Roosevelt Ave by a car. For over a year, my constituents have asked @MTA to fix the broken escalator, which is causing people to cross the street to the other entrance. We can’t wait any longer (1/2) pic.twitter.com/uNmxZhbTdZ
— Ron T. Kim (@rontkim) January 2, 2019
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6 Comments
Why don’t we have a pedestrian OVERPASS like they do in a lot of other cities? In that way pedestrians can safely walk without having to compete with traffic. NYC is so far behind in terms of urban civil engineering.
You stated the driver stayed on the scene…what a thing to say… my goodness… Thank God… the poor woman was pinned under the car !!
I took that photo. I had emailed my City Councilman Peter Koo over a year ago to make Roosevelt Avenue between Main Street and Union Street into a pedestrian plaza due to safety concerns. There are so many people who utilize the 7 train station at Flushing and so many motorists that drive there that it makes it extremely unsafe and inconvenient. Councilman Peter Koo never responded to my email from Dec 2017. I also emailed the MTA on Dec 3 about the broken escalator asking why it’s broken all the time. I never received a response. Good thing Assemblyman Ron Kim is advocating for the people of Flushing, pushing for the escalator to be fixed as well as advocating for Roosevelt Ave to be made into a pedestrian plaza. If we could make a huge pedestrian plaza at Times Square, blocking off part of Broadway in the middle of Manhattan, it can be done in Flushing. The voters and taxpayers of Flushing deserve no less. We can’t keep watching our neighbors being killed or put into the hospital because of the inaction of the MTA and the New York City Council to address our needs.
Literally thousands of people need Roosevelt Avenue vehicular traffic in order to access the 7 Train on a daily basis, so you’re suggesting that we turn that section of street into a permanent pedestrian plaza? Broadway in the middle of Manhattan is a completely different story because right at that juncture, 7th Avenue continues to run downtown, so there is leeway to spill traffic onto that street; what adjoining street do you suggest spilling Roosevelt’s cars and buses onto? The simple fact is, there is no nearby street that can alleviate Roosevelt’s vehicular pattern and turning the section in front of Macy’s to be a walking mall like Broadway would do a disservice to both cars and people. IMHO, if ‘safety’ is your concern, first and foremost? The cheapest and quickest way? Put a fence right where those MTA escalators are. Why? Because they encroach upon the street, and by their height and breadth, simultaneously become blind spots for both pedestrians and drivers. I live one block away from that spot and every time I either walk or drive pass it, I consciously slow down or look extra careful because that spot is so prone to getting someone killed. In essence, your heart is in the right place, but your urban planning will open up a pandora’s box of other nightmares. In essence, the entire Flushing downtown area is over saturated with pedestrians to the point they’re spilling into the streets. NYC’s idea of widening the sidewalks at Main Street, while seemingly good, eliminated two traffic lanes from one of the busiest streets in Flushing. If we keep doing that, then the city will grind to a standstill. We need to take the over population off the streets and give them their own dedicated thoroughfare, that is, an overhead pedestrian walkway. I envision a walkway from where the 109th Pct is, over the entire sidewalk of bus stops, through Lippman Plaza, then down Roosevelt to Skyview Center Mall. Along the way it can branch to the LIRR Station as well as down Main Street to Northern. Other cities (like Hong Kong) have done similar solutions (segregated walkers from drivers) with tremendous success.
Nah, make the motorists walk. No one deserves driving in downtown areas. If anything, install speed bumps every ten feet on every street! Walking is a right; driving is not!!
Roosevelt Ave and Main St. – from the libary to the meeting of the highway expressway near northern Blvd (13558 NY-25A). Should be made car free. It should only be accessible to people and buses: public transportation and not private. That is buses with their own specific lanes! Getting rid of cars is always better for businesses, and people. I am a Environmental Design major which is branch of the Urban Planning Department at the Unveristy at Buffalo, and this is one of our biggest advocacies! LESS CARS! Equals less sprawl and a safer, livelier, attractive, sustainable, and healthier city- Jan Gehl. The people that drive can walk, which then become healthy people. Less cars equals a more sustainable environment hence less air pollution. When an area becomes people friendly, there is no need to choose or have a balance between cars and people. The people become the priority. Less cars also leads to the demand of better public transportation. Therefore now funding that went to roads, stop lights etc. now goes into public transportation funding. I can go on, but I have work. Thank you!