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Brooklyn and Queens activists unite for the prevention of traffic fatalities

January 29, 2014 Editorial Staff

BROOKLYN MEDIA GROUP/Photo by Jermane Graham

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The cold winter weather didn’t intimidate the residents of Brooklyn and Queens who came out for a candlelight vigil for pedestrian safety, held at dusk, Sunday, January 26, at the intersection of Wyckoff, Palmetto and Myrtle Avenues on the Bushwick side of the border between Brooklyn and Queens, where pedestrian Ella Bandes was killed a little less than a year earlier on January 31, after being struck by an MTA bus.

Street safety advocate groups Make Brooklyn Safer, Make Queens Safer, Right of Way, Transportation Alternatives, StreetPAC, and Bay Ridge Advocates Keeping Everyone Safe (BRAKES) were among those who came together to hold the vigil and also express support for Vision Zero, Mayor Bill de Blasio’s recently announced plan for reducing pedestrian deaths.

Over 280 New Yorkers were killed in traffic crashes in 2013. Vision Zero puts pedestrian safety in the foreground by pushing for new traffic laws and spreading awareness of the growing issue of traffic violence.

At the vigil, organizers provided petition sheets to be signed to show support for traffic laws aimed at increasing pedestrian safety. Signs were held by the family and friends of traffic violence victims while buttons with the deceased’s photos on them were distributed to commemorate their memory. Members of the anti-traffic violence groups held up a banner that contained all of the names of New Yorkers killed in traffic crashes from the beginning of 2013 up to the present day. A vertical version of the banner was also hung on one of the elevated train support beams at the corner.

Bandes’ mother Judy Kottick took to the megaphone, contending that nothing has been changed on the intersection since her daughter was hit. “Since Ella died we understand that there have been six additional accidents at this very intersection,” said Kottick. “Despite our pleas to the Department of Transportation, the intersection remains basically unchanged, even though they have promised that improvements were on the way.”

Amy Cohen, the mother of 12-year-old Sammy Cohen-Eckstein – who was run over by a van while fetching his soccer ball at the intersection of Third Street and Prospect Park West in Park Slope on October 8, 2013 — listed the ways that traffic violence could be reduced by lowering the speed limit, reconstructing roads and installing speed cameras.

“These tragic deaths that affect rich, poor, Black, White, Latino and Asian could have been prevented,” said Cohen. “We live in a diverse and dense city bustling with pedestrians and cyclists. We need a paradigm shift in how drivers use our streets.”

Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams was in attendance, contending that the activists’ passion could effect real change. “No one moves government faster than those who have gone through some type of traumatic experience,” he said. “Let’s turn all of the pain, all of the energy, into purpose. Brooklyn will become the first borough that will lead the 20 miles an hour speed limit.”

As the memorial for the victims of traffic violence in 2013 ended, those present read the names of the 17 New Yorkers who have already been killed by vehicles since the start of 2014.

“It was a great event,” noted Stefania Vasquenz, a member of BRAKES. “It shows that people from all parts of New York City are getting together because we are tired. I’m glad there are more voices getting on board and fighting to get Vision Zero off the ground.”