Oct. 20, 2015 By Christian Murray
Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer, parents and dozens of first-grade students from P.S. 343 held a rally yesterday calling for the installation of a traffic light on the corner of 47th Avenue and 42nd Street.
Van Bramer and parents claim that the intersection is hazardous for children who walk to nearby P.S. 343 and for pedestrians who want to go to Thomas P. Noonan Playground.
“We are here to keep the children of this community safe,” Van Bramer said, adding that “42nd Street and 47th Avenue is a busy intersection and it very difficult to cross the street with cars coming and going—sometimes too fast.”
There have been six collisions at the 42nd Street/47th Avenue intersection between January 2014 and August 2015, according to NYPD collision reports. Twelve people were involved, although the data did not provide a breakdown as to whether pedestrians were involved.
The first graders chanted during the rally: “We want a traffic light! We want a traffic light!” and held up dozens of letters that they had collectively written to DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg calling for the light. The letters were mailed at the end of the rally.
Van Bramer said that he has been pushing the DOT to install a traffic light at the intersection before the new school opened in September 2014. He wrote a letter to DOT insisting that the agency erect a traffic light on Aug. 12, 2013.
“For years the DOT has refused to install traffic safety measures at the intersection which is surrounded by an elementary school, playground and multiple apartment buildings which house seniors and hundreds of families,” he said.
In a letter dated Sept. 24, 2013, the DOT informed him that there was not enough traffic to warrant a light. When he reached out again in June 2014, the DOT issued him with a letter on February 13, 2015 saying one was not needed.
The DOT is currently conducting another study and Van Bramer is hopeful that with community pressure a traffic light will be installed.
“Every day that we don’t have a traffic light at this intersection we are asking families to cross in danger,” Van Bramer said.
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16 Comments
That corner’s been dangerous for 30 years! And now the scientists decide to put a light there?!!!
Lived here all my life never had a problem with this corner. There is a crossing guard on that corner. If it is too dangerous, walk down to the other corner, 43rd street where there is a light and another crossing guard. Do people not know how to cross anymore??
USELESS IDIOT….we have cars going up the wrong way on 39th place almost daily and we cant get anyone to write tickets…..no one he was here and still nothing we almost had a head on collision last week….
death of a child will get the light in 7-10 days im sick of how government works
They do not need a speed bump on 42nd Street, between Skillman Avenue and 43rd Avenue, but they could use a Stop sign at Skillman Avenue & 42nd Street…
Stop sign or pedestrian priority crosswalk, for sure, but speed bumps are definitely needed on 42nd. Drivers use it as shortcut for when there’s traffic on 43rd street and fly right by, especially these idiots with their motorcycles.
Speed bumps in general are needed on 42nd street from skillman avenue all the way to greenpoint. How it wasn’t incorporated into the 20mph slow zone is mind blowing.
Agreed. I was disappointed that it wasn’t part of the slow zone. So many idiots racing down 42nd Street.
Sadly it doesn’t really make a difference. We live in the 20mph zone and haven’t seen a change in peoples’ driving at all. People still speed down the street. I have yet to see anyone get pulled over for this, and until they do, the 20mph zone is useless.
If you look at the photo while on LSD, the tree looks like a man with bushy hair and a tilted head.
I am attracted to the woman holding a stop sign.
My granddaughter attends P.S. 343, and I can tell you it’s a nightmare trying to cross that intersection. One crossing guard told me, “You’re taking your life in your hands trying to cross this street.” Not exactly what you want to hear on your way to school..!! I agree with Dennis Old Timer…what’s to study? School…kids…playground. DOT…get it done already..!!!
Shows how disconnected DOT and the politicians are, Van Bramer should have known about this place before and not just now, and propose this before. He knew the school was being built there, and he didn’t ask for this to be done. That place is extremely dangerous and there is always an idiot who is trying to cross when there is a car approaching, and the viewing angle is terrible because of the hill. This spot MUST have a traffic light, and 42nd, 43rd and 44th streets MUST have speed bumps between Queens Blvd and Greenpoint ave.
So you know, with absolute certainty, that this intersection was NEVER studied, considered or discussed when planning and building this school?
our counselman Jimmy knows everything about everything before it gets posted he is in agreement on alot of things that should not be done — especially the nonsence of the bike lanes on queens boulevard —
This should be a given. A school, a playground,small children what’s to study? May I also suggest that all truck traffic be prohibited during school hours and one hour after. Deliveries to merchants can be made via Greenpoint Ave. And yes strict enforcement of moving violations.
Drivers run red lights all the time around here. How about enforcement of traffic rules? If the city went after moving violations with as much vigor they ticket people parking on the wrong side of the street, the roads would be a lot safer.
This area was declared a “slow zone” recently yet I see people regularly zooming well past the 20 mph limit, including city buses, garbage trucks and even school buses.
I couldn’t agree with you more. Drivers drive fearlessly. Why? You have a better chance of getting struck by lightning than getting a ticket for speeding, running a red light, not using a turn signal or anything else. If I take a single, 20 minute walk around Sunnyside, I see at least 10 moving violations. If I were to give tickets to those careless drivers then people would think twice about driving unsafely. But for some reason the City of New York chooses not to put resources into issuing tickets for moving violations. I’m telling you, if drivers knew that there was a chance that they would be slapped with a $200 ticket, they would be driving much more respectfully. (Think about it…do you dare park in front of a fire hydrant overnight? Do you park during street sweeping hours? Do you not bother to feed the meter? No. Why? Because the second you leave your car, an official will be there to slap you with a ticket. The thing is….parked cars don’t kill people. Moving vehicles kill people. It’s just shameful that so many resources are dedicated to enforcing parking rules but in a moving vehicle, we can do anything we want…just shameful)