Editorial
Making our city’s streets even safer
PHOTO BY TODD MAISEL
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© 2019 Schneps Media
VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS
JOSHUA SCHNEPS
ROBERT POZARYCKI
GABE HERMAN
ALEJANDRA O’CONNELL
MARK HALLUM
MICHELE HERMAN
BOB KRASNER
TEQUILA MINSKY
MARY REINHOLZ
PAUL SCHINDLER
MARCOS RAMOS
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GAYLE GREENBURG
JIM STEELE
JULIO TUMBACO
ELIZABETH POLLY
New York Press Association
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Minority Women Business Enterprise
For the 25th time this year on the
streets of New York City, a cyclist
has been killed in a collision with
a driver.
It happened in Broad Channel, Queens
on Oct. 13 along a stretch of Cross Bay
Boulevard undergoing resurfacing. Normally,
the stretch of roadway through
the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Preserve has
demarcated bike lanes in either direction,
so the lines had been erased long
before the incident occurred.
Still, the absence of those bike lane
lines is no excuse for what transpired.
New York fi nds itself in a battle between
cyclists and drivers over who
owns the road. Both sides stake their
claim in very vocal ways.
In truth, however, no one group owns
the streets. We New Yorkers, who contribute
our taxes toward their maintenance,
own the streets — regardless of
how we get around.
As such, all of us need to demand
that our roads be made safe for anyone
to travel by car, by bike or by foot.
The de Blasio administration’s Vision
Zero plan, while well-intentioned, has
not been effective as it should have been,
with a stark increase in traffi c deaths this
year compared to last year. Too many of
these deaths involve cyclists who do not
stand a chance against a 2,000-pound
(or greater) vehicle traveling at speeds
of 30 mph or more.
It’s easy for drivers to dismiss the need
of bike lanes for cyclists, as it normally
results in the loss of traffi c lanes and
generally forces a reduction in speed.
The statistics, however, prove that
the lanes are necessary. More people
are purchasing bikes and using them
to get around, as these vehicles are far
cheaper, lack insurance requirements
and do not need sizable tracts of land
for storage. The increased mortality rate
on the city’s streets only underscores the
necessity for separate lanes where bicyclists
can ride in relative safety.
If the city hopes to make the streets
safer for everyone, then it must continue
expanding the bike lane network — taking
care, of course, to ensure that the
lanes are carefully placed along streets
wide enough to safely accommodate bicycles
and vehicles.
One more thing: Everyone needs to
follow the rules of the road. We must
also accept responsibility for driving
and riding safely, and crossing the street
with the light and within crosswalks.
Recklessness only leads to tragedy, and
all of us must do our own part to discipline
ourselves on the streets.
This photo is from the front page of the Oct. 29, 1987 issue of The Villager.
The caption read: “Youngsters from the Village Neighborhood
School model some of the Halloween masks they have created for their own
Halloween Parade, set for Friday at the Sullivan Street school. The route of
march will take the kids through Washington Square Park between 1:15 and
2:15 and they will be collecting holiday donations for UNICEF. This is the
school’s 13th annual Halloween event.”
-Gabe Herman
14 October 17, 2019 Schneps Media
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