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COURIER LIFE, JULY 24-30, 2020 15
Speakers addressed Jose Barrera’s grieving family, saying
the city needed to do more to protect people on city streets.
Photo by Ben Verde
Vigil for Borough Park
father underscored by
calls for safer streets
BY BEN VERDE
Borough Park residents,
street safety advocates,
and elected offi cials
are calling for justice for
50-year-old Jose Barrera,
a construction worker
who was killed in front
of his home by a reckless
driver on July 11.
Dozens gathered at a
vigil for Barrera on July
17, where they lit candles
and performed sorrowful
mariachi songs — before
marching to the 66th Precinct
to demand changes
to city streets, which they
said could prevent deaths
like Barrera’s.
“This neighborhood
is full of danger to people
who are walking, people
who are bicycling, and
needs to be fi xed,” said
Debbie Herman, a member
of Families for Safe
Streets who works nearby.
“There are so many families
in this neighborhood
who deserve better, who
deserve safer streets.”
Barrera was unloading
groceries from his
minivan on July 11 when
he was was pinned by a
21-year-old driver who
apparently lost control of
the vehicle. He was killed
just steps away from his
home, and in front of
his wife and six-year-old
daughter.
Speakers at the vigil
called on the NYPD to arrest
the driver.
“What I’m asking for
justice,” said Marisol
Contla, whose husband
Jose Contla was killed
by a hit and run driver in
Bensonhurst in February.
“We need justice, we need
something to be done.”
Borough Park, Midwood,
and Kensington
saw a rash of pedestrian
and cyclist deaths
throughout 2019, and
despite some residents’
pleas, few notable safety
improvements have been
made to local streets.
Exasperated community
members pointed
to the stalled design
changes on Coney Island
Avenue, which claimed
multiple lives in 2019 —
including pedestrian
María del Carmen Porras
Hernández, and cyclist
Jose Alzorriz.
“We keep hearing
that there is no money to
do this work, that there
aren’t any resources to
keep our families safe,”
said Shahana Hanif, a
staffer at Borough Park
Councilman Brad Lander’s
offi ce who hopes to
succeed him. “We need to
make sure that our neighborhoods
— every single
neighborhood where
Black and brown communities
are dying — are
safe.”
The crash came the
same week the Brooklyn
District Attorney announced
the forming of a
new street safety unit to
investigate crash deaths.
Speaking at the vigil,
the head of the new unit
vowed to seek justice for
Barrera.
“This is a terrible
event, make no mistake,
and no family should
have to live with the horrifying
consequences of
traffi c violence,” said Assistant
District Attorney
Ronald Snyder. “I along
with my colleagues will
do everything we can
within our power to get
justice for Mr. Barrera
and his family.”
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