Closing Bell: Petition for Safety on Ocean Parkway

Earlier this week a 73-year old pedestrian was hit and killed by a semi truck at the intersection near the Church Avenue and Ocean Parkway intersection, and now the community and local pols are calling for immediate safety measures. The community voted to allocate $200,000 to safety upgrades at the dangerous intersection in last year’s Participatory Budgeting. Now, the community is pushing the New York State Department of Transportation to sign-off on said safety improvements. The New York City DOT had proposed building a pedestrian refuge island between northbound and southbound traffic at the intersection, giving pedestrians a safe space when crossing the nine-lane street. But the New York State DOT rejected the proposal and instead proposed to eliminate the crosswalk entirely. Without the crosswalk, residents would have to walk a block out of their way and wait for three crossing signals instead of one, and it’s likely pedestrians would still cross there anyway. Council Member Brad Lander started a petition today asking the New York State DOT for a pedestrian safety island as well as repairing the damaged sidewalks and crosswalks. Lander also spoke this morning at the corner of Church Avenue and Ocean Parkway to demand a safety plan, pictured above.