By Peter Sorkin
Sofia Leviyev, an eighth-grader at JHS 190, died after being struck by a speeding car Nov. 29 on Queens Boulevard at 67th Avenue in Rego Park, said Officer Louis Cruz, a Police Department spokesman.
It was the second time in two years that a member of the Leviyev family had died crossing Queens Boulevard at the same intersection.
Less than a week later Firefighter Derek Kuhland of Ladder 167 in Bayside was struck on the boulevard at 55th Avenue in Elmhurst by a car going twice the speed limit at about 12:30 a.m. Monday, said Detective Carolyn Chew, a police spokeswoman.
Kuhland was in extremely critical condition in Elmhurst Hospital Tuesday night, Chew said. The driver of the car, who was not identified, was issued summons for speeding and failing to produce insurance papers, she said. No other charges were pending, Chew said. Police officials said an investigation was continuing.
The Leviyev family was still in disbelief days after the accident. In 1998, a 62-year-old uncle of Sofia Leviyev was struck and killed by a car near the same spot where she was hit, said Natalie Levi, her sister.
“This is all really hard to take,” she said Monday. “To lose two members of our family like this – now my mom is so frightened. She thinks that it's not safe for the kids who have to go from the school to the library.”
Sofia, the youngest of two sisters and six brothers, was hit just after 5 p.m. Wednesday and died at 3:25 a.m. Thursday morning at Elmhurst Hospital, police said.
The driver of the minivan was issued a summons for speeding, but was not charged further because Sofia was crossing against the light and alcohol tests given to the driver at the scene were negative, said Cruz.
The officer said the driver of the car, who was not named, was traveling north on the main highway lane of Queens Boulevard when the accident happened. The Accident Investigation Squad determined that the driver was speeding, Cruz said.
In response to the recent accidents, the Forest Hills Action League decided to sponsor a March For Life rally Sunday at 11 a.m. in front of the 112th Precinct to ask police officers to slow traffic and better inform pedestrians about safety concerns.
Estelle Chwat, co-president of the Forest Hills Action League with her husband Norbert, blamed speedy drivers but also faulted municipal services.
“We have lived in the area for over 40 years and in our older years, we can see that the area has been totally neglected,” Chwat said. “The DOT (Department of Transportation) has totally ignored the influx of the drivers and the population.
“They are not prepared for what has been happening here,” she said. “Our boulevard, which was a residential boulevard, is now a major highway.”
Norbert Chwat said “it's a sad commentary that a city agency subordinates the safety of its citizens to that of cars speeding through our community and does not even conform to federal guidelines for highway safety. Various safety studies have been undertaken, money has been spent, but citizens are still at risk.”
DOT spokesman Tom Cocola said his agency extends sympathies to the two families but said in both cases the drivers were going well past the speed limit.
“A good key to driving are the three E's – education, engineering, and enforcement,” he said.
“We have a challenge when we have to out-engineer bad drivers,” Cocola said. “As bad as these tragedies are, one of the lessons that should be learned is at night time when Queens Boulevard opens up, people still have to obey the speed limit.”
Estelle Chwat said that since 1993, 70 people have died and more than 1,000 have been injured trying to cross the boulevard.
“The major thing that has to be done is that we need police presence to take care of the traffic and the people,” she said. “We need the unmarked police cars. They must treat this as a highway and make sure that speeders are punished.”
For the Leviyevs, the action comes too late.
“That won't bring her back,” said Levi. “I don't know how we're going to deal with this. We are still in mourning so we're not emotionally ready to handle the situation.”
Levi said she would pray that people crossing the intersection and driving on Queens Boulevard would be more careful.
“If it says Don't Walk, be on the safe side,” she said. “It's still very dangerous and you're still taking a risk.”
For more information on the Forest Hills Action league March of Life Walk call 268-7820.
