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Demanding safer streets for students
Rally at LIC’s LaGuardia Community College presses DOT to do more to protect pedestrians
BY MARK HALLUM
After a deadly decade on
the streets near Long Island
City’s LaGuardia Community
College, the staff has had
enough with unfulfilled promises
from the city Department
of Transportation (DOT) for
road safety improvements.
Activists at a Tuesday press
conference hosted by Councilman
Jimmy Van Bramer not
only said there have been 15
fatalities on Thomson Avenue
in front from the school
between 2009 and 2019, but
that DOT has been allocated
the resources to make safety
improvements for years.
Many at the rally looked
back on March 11, 2013, when
a car ran into several individuals
in a pedestrian plaza
across from 30-20 Thomson
Ave., killing 16-year-old Tenzin
Drudak who was waiting
for a bus on the sidewalk.
Kevin Lopez, 20, was also
struck on his bike while on
his way home from school, according
to information on one
protester’s sign.
The trend does not end
there; along with the 15 fatalities
over the last 10 years,
there have also been 760
severe injuries.
“Tens of thousands of people
traverse these sidewalks
and these streets every single
day, and make no mistake:
it is a dangerous stretch for
anyone to walk or cycle and
even drive,” Van Bramer said.
“They were not in the street.
They were actually on the
pavement — on the sidewalk
— waiting to cross this street
when a car plowed into them,
killing Tenzen Drudak and
injuring numerous others.”
There are four high
Paul Arcario, interim president of LaGuardia Community College in Long Island City, stood with transportation
adovcates on Sept. 10 to call for safety improvements to Thomson Avenue.
Photo: Mark Hallum/QNS
schools along with LaGuardia
in a five-block radius which is
a transit hub for up to 15,000
students per day, according to
Van Bramer.
Despite this, DOT has
not designated this section
of Thomson a school zone —
something the activists are
urging the agency to do along
with traffic calming measures,
which is what those at
the rally were calling for.
“The safety of our students,
faculty, staff and visitors is
paramount. Several incidents
where members of LaGuardia
Community College and
other pedestrians have been
injured or killed while standing
on a sidewalk or crossing
a street near our campus have
illuminated the perils of the
current traffic pattern,” Paul
Arcario, interim president
of LaGuardia said. “As well,
too many near misses have
occurred. These are serious,
life-threatening issues that
must be addressed urgently in
order to safeguard lives and
prevent future tragedies.”
One of those injuries includes
Sasha Ponappa, who is
the director for the Program
for Deaf Adults at LaGuardia.
Since she was hit by a car that
ran a red light eight months
ago, Ponappa has dealt with
injuries as well psychological
remembrances: posttraumatic
stress disorder.
“Every area of my life has
been impacted by that hit. I
broke my hand. I injured both
my knees and my legs. I had a
concussion. I also have PTSD
from the crash,” Ponappa said
through a sign language interpreter.
“I was not the only
victim that night. There was
another pedestrian that was
hit as well. I have not seen any
change since and it’s sad to
know how many people have
been lost and injured here.”
DOT told QNS they have
been working with community
stakeholders over the
past few months to implement
changes from 33rd
Street side of the campus and
plans to present a strategy to
the councilman by the end of
the year.
“Building on previous improvements
to this corridor,
DOT implemented safety enhancements
to Queens Boulevard
from Van Dam Street
to 33rd Street to better accommodate
and protect the
high volumes of pedestrians
around LaGuardia Community
College,” a DOT spokesman
said. “We worked with
the College, Council Member
Van Bramer, and Community
Board 2 to make muchneeded
upgrades for greater
pedestrian safety and access,
including six new crosswalks
and related traffic signals
and the expanded and
reconfigured Greenstreets
triangle, which has been
modified so that pedestrian
ramps fit in the space and
that the island is passable for
pedestrian use.”
“Pedestrians can access
the triangle using three new
crosswalks,” the statement
continued. “DOT converted 14
off-street parking spaces under
the Viaduct between 32nd
Place and 33rd Street to pedestrian
walkway to accommodate
the high pedestrian
volumes. DOT committed to
completing this phase of work
before the fall academic semester
started.”
Joby Jacob, a professor
of biology, claimed DOT has
been slow to act on the dangerous
conditions because of
what he sees as a propensity
to give priority to motorist
coming to and from Manhattan
with the school being
closely situated to the Queens-
Midtown Tunnel and the
Queensborough Bridge.
Reach reporter Mark Hallum
by email at mhallum@
schnepsmedia.com or by phone
at (718) 260–4564.
Vol. 7 No. 37 48 total pages
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