Commuter vans along 65th Street may be upping the danger quotient along the heavily traveled thoroughfare.
Residents of the strip went to Community Board 10’s October meeting to register their complaints.
Phyllis Maldarelli, who lives in a condominium building at 12th Avenue and 65th Street, told board members gathered at the Knights of Columbus, 86th Street and 13th Avenue, that the commuter vans “stop at random wherever they like, whenever they see one of their passengers. It’s dangerous. We have a lot of people crossing the street. We have had a lot of accidents and a lot of near accidents. We need help on this.”
Josephine Beckmann, the board’s district manager, noted in a subsequent interview that the problem is a familiar one.
“I drive on 65th Street every day,” she said. “The biggest problem is vans that just stop. They don’t signal. They don’t pull over. I think speeding is also a big problem. When you combine the two, you are more prone to have accidents. Last week, there were two accidents at 11th Avenue and 65th Street.”
The corridor, Beckmann noted, has the “highest rate of accidents in CB 10,” crying out, she added, for increased enforcement.
What makes it especially an issue of concern, she went on, is the changing usage of the thoroughfare.
In many places, Beckmann said, it’s gone from “Gasoline Alley” and “factory buildings” to retail establishments, “So I think there are more pedestrians crossing,” she went on. “There are also a lot of people crossing to go to P.S. 69 (at Ninth Avenue and 63rd Street).”
How bad is the strip? According to the 68th Precinct, between Third and 14th Avenues, there were 306 accidents in 2006 and the same number again in 2007. By April, 2008, there had been 90. Some intersections are relatively calm. Others have a higher number of accidents.
The most accident-prone intersection along the stretch is at Sixth Avenue, where there were 48 accidents in 2006, 59 in 2007 and 11 between January and April, 2008. Seventh Avenue comes next, with 50 accidents in 2006, 44 in 2007 and 12 through April, 2008. Fort Hamilton Parkway is the third most accident-prone of the intersections, with 38 in 2006, 44 in 2007 and 10 through April, 2008.
At 12th Avenue, there were 15 accidents in 2006, 16 in 2007 and six through April, 2008. At 11th Avenue, there were 24 accidents in 2006, 15 accidents in 2007 and five through April, 2008.
The 68th Precinct has an ongoing presence on the strip, said Deputy Inspector Eric Rodriguez.
“We put enforcement there all the time,” he noted. “We are very well aware of the 65th Street corridor and do summons over there. The bottom line is that it’s a two- way street where the turning lanes take up one lane in each direction.” This, he stressed, “makes it very difficult for people to get by.”
In particular, Rodriguez said, the precinct does “monitor the commuter vans in the area. If we see a violation, we do summons it.”
The precinct’s officers also pay attention to double-parking and blocked bus stops, said Rodriguez, specifically because both situations have a negative impact on “traffic flow.”
The precinct also “makes recommendations” and “sends notifications” to the Department of Transportation (DOT) regarding issues encountered along the thoroughfare, Rodriguez added.
DOT has studied the strip and has made some efforts to improve safety, Beckmann said. For one thing, she noted, DOT had put up “some pedestrian signage.” They had also put a no U turn sign up at 12th Avenue, near Christa McAuliffe Intermediate School, Beckmann remarked.
