Queens Boulevard: The Street Thats Out Of Control

WEDNESDAY, NOV. 29, 2000
A 14-year-old girl dies as a speeding minivan strikes her in a crosswalk on Queens Blvd. at 67 Ave. in Forest Hills.
MONDAY, DEC. 4, 2000
A New York City firefighter is struck by a car on Queens Blvd. at the intersection of Queens Blvd. and 55 Ave. in Elmhurst. He remains in extremely critical condition.
It is the street that people use as a highway. Stand on a pedestrian island in the middle of Queens Blvd. and there is no difference between that and standing in the meridian of the Long Island Expwy. The fact is that motorists treat both the same. They are not. One is an expressway (the L.I.E.). The other is a community street (Queens Blvd.) but the speeding cars dont seem to know the difference.
It is a deadly difference.
For years, local activists and politicians have been speaking out about the dangers of the boroughs central boulevard, but little has been done to change the fact that this once glorious pathway is one of the citys most dangerous thoroughfares.
Last weeks tragic death of Sofia Leviyer, an eighth grade student at Jamaica High School 190 in Forest Hills sent shockwaves throughout the community of central Queens. Before her death while crossing the boulevard, many experts on traffic safety said that the large number of pedestrian deaths on this multi-lane boulevard were due to the fact that the large local senior citizen population in the area was unable to deal with the traffic light cycle. Not any more. What seniors have been complaining about for over a decade has now affected a 14-year-old girl and a 31-year-old firefighter.
"Queens Blvd. is like the L.I.E. with crosswalks," said Estelle Chwat of the Forest Hills Action League, a group that plans a major demonstration this weekend along the huge expanse of roadway that cuts through the heart of the borough.
Councilwoman Karen Koslowitz, the Rego Park-Forest Hills representative of the streets area and Councilman Walter McCaffrey, who represents the western Queens sector of the thoroughfare, have both been working for years for a solution to the problem of the least safe street in Queens.
Seventy deaths on the well-traveled highway made last weeks two accidents highlight the project to solve the problem of the boulevard.
Congressman Anthony Weiner said, "Sofia’s tragic death reminds us again that Queens Blvd. is one of the least-safe places to be a pedestrian. For years community residents and elected officials have been demanding greater efforts to improve safety for pedestrians along Queens Blvd. Demands for longer walk signals, lower speed limits, speed bumps and greater enforcement of traffic laws have been met with inaction by city transportation officials."
Queens Borough President Claire Shulman stated, "I spoke today with DOT Commissioner Iris Weinshall and have been assured that traffic safety improvements scheduled for a section of Queens Blvd. that includes 67 Ave. will be accelerated. Meanwhile, work is nearing completion on traffic safety improvements recommended in an earlier phase of the traffic safety study of more than two miles of Queens Blvd. near the scene of last nights accident."
Meanwhile Alan Ziess, founding member of a group called "Forest Hills/Rego Park Crosswalks" issued a statement in which he said, "Pedestrian safety needs must be given higher priority and solutions to address speeding and create safe walking environments should be comprehensive and include engineering of safer roads that support lower speed limits, education of drivers and pedestrians to encourage safe and courteous behaviors, enforcement of existing speed limits and traffic safety laws and evaluation of traffic-related efforts to create more walkable communities. This community will not tolerate any more funerals for our families and friends resulting from traffic crashes."
Meanwhile, the Forest Hills Action League will hold their "March For Life" this Sunday, Dec. 1 at 11 a.m. in the front of the 112 Precinct. stationhouse on Austin St. and Yellowstone Blvd. "It is time to end the 70 killings and 1,000 plus injuries for people who looked for life but found death," Chwat stated. For information on the rally contact the group at (718) 268-7820 or 268-1688.