BY ALIYA SCHNEIDER
Changes are coming to New York
City intersections.
Last week, a new Department of
Transportation (DOT) rule was implemented
that requires drivers, bicyclists
and scooterists to stop — not yield — to
pedestrians, and wait until they are
done crossing the street, at more than
1,200 crosswalks in the city that don’t
have stop signs or traffi c lights.
A DOT spokesman told the Bronx
Times the agency believes the new rule
“will prevent serious crashes and protect
the most vulnerable users on our
streets.”
Violating the rule, coined “Stop. Let
Them Cross,” has a $50 fi ne, but the
price does not increase for repeat offenses,
according to DOT.
“Drivers need to know that intersections
are where most crashes happen,”
Mayor Eric Adams said. “And so
if you do not drive safely through them,
NYPD offi cers will make sure you pay
a price.”
Since the rule only adheres to intersections
without traffi c controls, drivers
are still just required to yield, not
stop, when there is a green light and pedestrians
have a walk signal, known as
the failure to yield rule.
“The existing failure to yield rule is
extremely effective when enforced and
we felt it did not need to be updated at
this time,” a DOT spokesman told the
Bronx Times on Tuesday.
However, two pedestrians were
killed at separate crosswalks in Manhattan
on Monday, according to the
NYPD. One driver was charged with
failing to yield to the pedestrian, and
no arrests have been made regarding
the other incident, but both investigations
are ongoing. Both intersections
have traffi c lights on Google Maps, and
police did not share what color the signals
were at the time of the collisions.
While announcing the new traffi c
rule on Jan. 19, Adams, a Democrat,
and DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez
also announced that DOT will improve
1,000 intersections throughout
the city with improved traffi c signals,
raised crosswalks and other methods
that expand pedestrian space and visibility.
As for how many of the safety redesigns
will come to the Bronx, a DOT
spokesman said the agency is in the
process of identifying intersections,
based on traffi c crash data and a goal
of equitably distributing the efforts
across the city.
“We’re excited to bring these lifesaving
treatments to all reaches of the
fi ve boroughs,” Rodriguez said in a
statement to the Bronx Times. “Equity
is embedded in everything we do at the
DOT and is a guiding principle of the
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, J 18 JAN. 28-FEB. 3, 2022 BTR
Some NYC intersections are getting a new traffi c rule, and others are getting improvements,
as part of an effort to curb pedestrian injuries and deaths. Photo | Adrian Childress
NYC Streets Plan. It will be refl ected in
our selection of intersections for this
initiative.”
The city identifi ed priority areas
for safety improvement efforts in the
2019 Pedestrian Safety Action Plan,
and DOT’s December 2021 NYC Streets
Plan identifi es priority investment areas
based on the percentage of nonwhite
and low-income residents, previous
investments and density. Much
of the Bronx is included as a fi rst-tier
priority.
According to data from Vision Zero
— the city’s initiative to prevent traffi c
fatalities and serious injuries — there
were 14 pedestrian fatalities, 1,303 pedestrian
injuries, 5 bicyclist fatalities
and 504 bicyclist injuries in the Bronx
in 2021.
In City Councilwoman Pierina Sanchez’s
district alone, the council district
in the Bronx with the highest
density of injuries, there were 181 pedestrian
and 63 bicyclist injuries in
2021.
The three Bronx council members
on the City Council Transportation
and Infrastructure Committee —
Marjorie Velázquez of Throggs Neck,
Amanda Farías of Parkchester and Althea
Stevens of Concourse Village —
all emphasized the importance of safer
intersections.
“When I speak to my neighbors, one
of their biggest concerns is putting an
end to the reckless driving and racing
that has plagued our community,” said
Velázquez, a Democrat.
In terms of the Stop. Let them Cross
rule, Stevens, a Progressive, said that
intersections with high pedestrian activity
should be evaluated for actually
getting stop signs or traffi c lights.
“I think this is a step,” she said.
“But we have to continue evaluating to
see what else can we do. Because just
making the law makes it so we’re on
an honor system. So how do we enforce
it?”
Stevens said while the $50 fi ne
seems reasonable, it should be truly
enforced across devices.
“I think we really need to get a handle
on scooters we have in the community,
even some of the bikes,” she said.
Farías, a Progressive, said improving
intersections is critical for everyone’s
safety, particularly as her district
prepares for the expansion of Citi
Bike and inclusion in the e-scooter pilot
program this year.
‘Stop’: City enforces new traffi c rule,
promises safety improvements
SHERIFF’S SALE
BY VIRTUE OF AN EXECUTION ISSUED OUT OF THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, BRONX
COUNTY, in favor of THE CITY OF NEW YORK, JUDGEMENT CREDITOR and against DAVID FLORES,
JUDGEMENT DEBTOR, to me directed and delivered, I WILL SELL AT PUBLIC AUCTION, by Dennis Alestra DCA#
0840217., auctioneer, as the law directs, FOR CASH ONLY, on the 9th day of FEBRUARY, 2022, at 1:00 PM AT: THE
BRONX COUNTY SHERIFFS OFFICE, 3030 THIRD AVENUE, 2ND FLOOR, BRONX NY 10455, in the county of BRONX
all the right, title and interest which DAVID FLORES, the judgement debtor, had on the 31st day of July, 2013, or at
any time thereafter, of, in and to the following properties:
1028 WARD AVENUE, BRONX, NY 10472
BLOCK: 3716 LOT: 15
All that certain plot, piece or parcel of land, with the buildings and improvements thereon erected, situate, lying and
being in the Borough and County of Bronx, City and State of New York, bounded and described as follows.
BEGINNING at a point on the easterly side of Ward Avenue distant 500 feet southerly from the corner formed by
the intersection of the easterly side of Ward Avenue and the southerly side of Watson Avenue;
RUNNING THENCE Southerly along the easterly side of Ward Avenue 25 feet;
THENCE Easterly and parallel with the southerly side of Watson Avenue and part of distance through a party wall
100 feet;
THENCE Northerly along the center line of the block 25 feet;
THENCE Westerly and again parallel with the southerly side of Watson Avenue 100 feet to the easterly side of
Ward Avenue at the point or place of BEGINNING.
JOSEPH FUCITO
Sheriff of the City of New York
DEPUTY THOMAS VANROSSEM
CASE# 21026509
3030 THIRD AVENUE 2nd FL, BRONX, NY 10455
718-993-3880