Outrage from Transportation Alternatives After Police Officer Driving NYPD Van Strikes, Kills, Drags Man in Crown Heights, Brooklyn

Along Eastern Parkway in the last 10 years, drivers have killed at least nine people, including seven pedestrians, and 2,381 injuries have been reported 

TA: We demand that the City of New York conduct a full, independent investigation into this crash, hold those responsible to account, and implement policies to ensure it does not happen again

BROOKLYN — Last night, a police officer in an NYPD van speeding to “make the light,” struck, killed, and dragged 35 feet a man standing on a painted median on Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. This is the 63rd traffic fatality this year, up 34 percent from this point in 2021. More than two-thirds of Brooklyn’s fatalities, 12 of 17, so far in 2022 have been pedestrians. Overall, nearly 40 percent of the city’s pedestrian fatalities to date in 2022 have taken place in Brooklyn.

At least five people have been killed on Eastern Parkway between Grand Army Plaza and Ralph Avenue in the last five years. In that same time period, 102 cyclists, 209 pedestrians, and 1,004 motorists were injured just along this stretch of road. Both cross streets are Vision Zero priority corridors, meaning they are among Brooklyn’s top nine percent most dangerous streets. This nine percent of streets is where more than half of Brooklyn’s fatalities and serious injuries to pedestrians occur. This crash was just one block away from where, in August 2021, a speeding driver killed 20-year-old Aniya Blandon at a bus stop. 

There was also no red-light camera in operation at the intersection. Red-light cameras are proven to make streets safer, but are severely restricted in their use. State lawmakers in Albany only permit the City of New York to use red-light cameras at 150 intersections citywide, representing just one percent of all signalized intersections. In a recent report, TA highlighted how the limits on this program have led to an alarming rise in red-light running, and called on state lawmakers to transfer state control over traffic safety to New York City.

Statement from Danny Harris, Transportation Alternatives Executive Director:

“We’re heartbroken and outraged after an NYPD officer speeding to beat a light struck and killed a man in Brooklyn last night. The intersection is a Vision Zero priority intersection, the cross streets are Vision Zero priority corridors, and the entire area is a Vision Zero priority area. 

Despite the clear and ongoing danger at this location, the City of New York has failed to redesign the area to prioritize the safety of our most vulnerable street users. And while this victim was standing on a painted median, paint is not protection. Relying upon paint – whether for a bike lane, bus lane, or median — is a clear example of offering the guise of safety without actually providing proven protection.”

“We send our deepest condolences to the loved ones of the victim, who may have been homeless. People forced out of their homes and living in public spaces are at increased vulnerability to all forms of violence. To those who live on our streets, street safety and the lack thereof is an especially acute issue. Nobody should fear death by car on our streets, especially those who may reside on them.”

“Deadly traffic violence is on track to increase for an unprecedented fourth year in a row. We cannot sit idly by as cars kill more and more of our neighbors. We urge Mayor Adams and NYC DOT Commissioner Rodriguez to build upon their plans to overhaul 1,000 intersections and quickly launch redesigns of dangerous corridors citywide. We urge the administration to meet the NYC Council’s commitment of $3.1 billion for the NYC Streets Plan to bring proven safety investments to neighborhoods across the five boroughs. We urge our leaders in Albany to immediately grant home rule powers to the City of New York so it can expand proven, life-saving automated enforcement cameras. And we demand that the City of New York do a full, independent investigation into this crash, hold those responsible to account, and implement policies to ensure it does not happen again.”

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