Month-long streak without pedestrian deaths
in NYC a silver lining in pandemic cloud
BY MARK HALLUM
For New York City Department of
Transportation Commissioner Polly
Trottenberg, the restrictions on daily
life from COVID-19 came with an upside:
a 29-day streak of no pedestrian deaths
across the fi ve boroughs.
The streak was snapped early Tuesday
morning by a fatality in Queens. Still,
the city had gone a full month without a
pedestrian death.
Year-to-date, 26 pedestrians have died
and one cyclist which is lowest the fatalities
have been in the last seven years when 55
people had been killed in struck by cars in
some fashion by April 13, 2013.
But since the city started keeping a
tally of pedestrian fatalities in 1983, the
29 days without a death that DOT recently
recorded was the longest on record.
“Typically, unfortunately we see two to
three pedestrian fatalities per week on sort
of an average time,” DOT Commissioner
Polly Trottenberg told amNewYork Metro.
“Since the stay at home orders came down,
we’re seeing a big reduction in traffi c on the
streets, obviously with fewer pedestrians
out there, and a big reduction in collisions
and collisions with injury. What we are
seeing… is hugely increased in speeding.”
Trottenberg said the late-night roadside
death in Queens, in the early hours of April
PHOTO BY MARK HALLUM
Sparse traffic on clear skies over Canal Street in Manhattan.
‘Virtual court’ now in session across New York expands due to pandemic
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
New York’s are continuing to adapt
digitally to the new realities
imposed during the coronavirus
pandemic.
Last week, the state’s Unifi ed Court
System launched “virtual court operations”
focused on essential and emergency court
proceedings. That came after the courts
shifted criminal arraignments, bail applications,
orders of protection and other
essential civil, criminal and family matters
to a virtual environment.
On Monday, Chief Judge Janet DiFiore
and Chief Administrative Judge Lawrence
Marks announced that the virtual
courts will now include matters such
as pending tort, asbestos, commercial,
matrimonial, trusts and estates, felony,
family and other cases. This represents
the bulk of all court cases heard in New
York state.
DiFiore said the transition came after
two weeks of upgrades to develop “a virtual
14, was still under investigation by NYPD;
it’s unclear if speed was a factor.
But since the self-quarantine measures
were put in place in early March by
Governor Andrew Cuomo, vehicle miles
traveled by borough has been reduced from
between 78% in the Bronx to about 92%
in Manhattan, according to statistics from
StreetLight Data.
“We’ve learned something that I think is
no surprise; fewer cars and people out on
the streets does appear to obviously reduce
traffi c and fatalities. It does increase speeding,
I don’t want to be complacent and I
framework for handling all essential and
emergency matters.”
“Building on this framework, we can
now begin to focus on the rest of our
caseload, enabling judges and non-judicial
employees across the state, who are anxious
don’t want to interpret a month of data. I’m
still plenty concerned about the incredible
increases in speed we’re seeing,” Trottenberg
said. “I think we’ve also seen as people
have not wanted to ride mass transit, we’ve
seen growth in cycling. I certainly think
that’s going to be one of the takeaways a
lot of cities are going to look at as people
start going back work.”
DOT has observed an decrease of -45%
to -65% on crossings into the core as
compared with last year’s numbers while
Midtown zone speeds have doubled from
an average of about 6 mph to 12 mph.
PHOTO VIA GETTY IMAGES
to get back to work and do their part, to be
active and serve the public in this time of
great need,” DiFiore said.
As of Monday, Marks explained, judges
were able to remotely schedule and conduct
conferences and hearings focused on
The DOT will be looking at how demand
for cycling infrastructure or mass transit
will evolve as the economy makes its eventual
recovery.
The single cyclist fatality in 2020 is fi ve
fewer than the 6 cyclist deaths reported
at the same time a year ago. Also, at this
same point in April 2019, there had been
32 pedestrians killed.
The year with the lowest cyclist fatalities
was 2018 with 10; by this time two years
ago, there were only two deaths on two
wheels and 28 on foot.
“We’ve only had one so far. I hate to
jinx it by saying it, but it’s encouraging,”
Trottenberg said.
As for the larger goals for Vision Zero
under the de Blasio administration, some
dreams may fall by the wayside as the city
battles coronavirus.
Trottenberg said emergency work would
take precedent over new projects for the
time being.
Activists pushing for the completion of
the fi nal phase of the Queens Boulevard
bike lanes from Yellowstone Boulevard
to Union Turnpike for the past two
years, the wait may continue. In February
after Trottenberg said the bike lane installment
would commence in the summer,
Mayor Bill de Blasio put the hopes of the
cycling community on hold again.
discovery disputes and other outstanding
issues in pending civil and criminal cases.
“These are preliminary — but signifi -
cant — steps forward as we strive, in these
challenging times, to carry on the vitally
important business of the courts,” Marks
said.
Court proceedings for any pending nonessential
court matters are being heard
virtually through video or phone conferencing.
Administrative and court staff are
assisting judges in using the various digital
platforms to conduct the hearings and access
records.
While the judges and attorneys are conferencing
in remotely, a limited number of
court clerks and offi cers are still reporting
to designated courthouse locations for
paperwork processing and security.
The Unifi ed Court System maintains
that all scheduled court proceedings are
open to the public, though court security
personnel will monitor and limit access to
maintain social distancing.
For more information, visit nycourts.gov.
14 April 16,2020 Schneps Media
/nycourts.gov
