BRONX WEEKLY S www.BXTimes.com eptember 22, 2019 12
BY ALEX MITCHELL
The northwest Bronx claimed
a victory when the NYC Department
of Transportation announced
it would install a left
turn signal for southbound traffi
c at Riverdale Avenue and West
231st Street on Wednesday, September
4.
The DOT agreed to intall the
traffi c signal after Assemblyman
Jeffery Dinowitz and Councilman
Andy Cohen demanded a
study of the intersections along
Riverdale Avenue up to West
236th Street, on Tuesday, August
27.
“With so many new buildings
going up, including several
schools, we have seen a marked
increase in the amount of pedestrian
traffi c in recent years,”
Dinowitz said following his
presser.
Those schools are mostly just
south along Riverdale Avenue at
West 230th Street, such as the entrance
to the former JFK school
campus, which now hosts seven
public schools that seat over
1,000 students each, according to
Dinowitz’s offi ce.
One the new high schools,
called International Leadership
Charter High School, opened on
the corner of West 231st Street
just three years ago.
“This intersection has long
been a problem, not only for pedestrians
but also for drivers
who are tired of saying their
prayers every time they want to
turn left onto West 231st Street,”
the assemblyman continued.
The two elected offi cials have
been requesting increased traffi
c safety measures at this location
for years, according to Cohen
.W
hen they started campaigning
for the improvements in 2017,
there were 131 accidents involving
more than 250 vehicles on
that stretch of roadway alone, according
to statistics obtained by
Dinowitz’s offi ce from the NYPD
Vehicle Collision data reports.
Nearly half of the accidents
took place at the intimidating
intersection of West 230th Street
and Broadway, where a multilevel
shopping center was recently
constructed and where an
access ramp to the Major Deegan
Expressway is located.
“This stretch of roadway has
had over a dozen accidents since
the beginning of the year, so
more must be done,” Cohen said
mentioning that this call to action
came mostly from residents
more than it did from City Hall.
“It is my hope that this area
will have leading indicator
lights, pedestrian islands, increased
cross walk times, and
more so that we can stop all
these close-call situations,” Cohen
continued.
In addition, Dinowitz and Cohen
criticized the Metropolitan
Transportation Authority’s policy
of removing printed bus maps
from all the city’s bus stops.
The two penned a letter to the
MTA, saying that the move is
more “penny pinching than effi -
cient” on Tuesday, September 10.
“At a time when we should be
expanding information access
to all bus riders, such as adding
modernized bus maps and
route frequency information,
it is very unfortunate that the
MTA has decided to eliminate
an essential service for many of
their customers,” Dinowitz said
adding the move was unfair to
senior communities because
many of the elderly don’t own
smartphones to research bus
routes.
The MTA has not indicated
that it plans to restore the bus
maps at this time.
Left turn signal approved for
W. 231st & Riverdale Avenue
Assemblyman Jeffery Dinowitz joined by Concilman Andy Cohen and Congressman
Elliot Engel calling for a traffi c study of West 231st Street and Riverdale
Avenue. Assemblyman Jeffery Dinowitz’s offi ce
King hosts “Out of the
Pool’ Back to School
Councilman Andy King and the Bronx Youth
Empowerment Program co-hosted the Out of
the Pool, Back to School Rally for 1,000 Bronx
students on Friday, September 13 at Evander
Childs Athletic Field. The academic celebration
featured meet and greets with NY Knicks legend
Rod Strickland and NBA Champion Gold Medal
Olympian Brooklyn Nets Kyrie Irving, Department
of Education Chancellor Richard Carranza,
Mount Vernon Mayor Andre Wallace and a special
surprise guest!
(above) (l-r) Dr. Nadine S. James, Clover Mc-
Donald and Blossom Morris of Illumin Xation,
a not for profi t learning center, shared their
program with attendees.
(below) The Mall at Bay Plaza’s Miranda Ashbar
and Ethan Shalom (2nd from ) enjoyed
meeting rapper A Boogie Wit da Hoodie (c)
and Councilman King.
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