By Sophia Chang
Police officials said Sheng Ping Fang, 59, was crossing the notoriously dangerous boulevard around 7:30 p.m. when she was struck by a beige 1998 Honda Odyssey van. The 78-year-old driver, who remained on the scene, was not arrested.Fang, who lived near Queens College on 153rd Street, was pronounced dead at New Parkway Hospital in Forest Hills that night.Fang was the latest casualty on the seven-mile stretch known as the “Boulevard of Death,” which has claimed the lives of more than 80 pedestrians since 1993. In September, 81-year-old Margarite Braun, of Rego Park, was killed when a Jeep struck her at the 63rd Drive intersection. Family members said Fang was a wonderful mother and doting grandmother who, despite health problems and a limited command of English, had such generosity of heart that she and her husband ran an organization to welcome new immigrants with open arms.After emigrating from the Hunan Province in China in 1982, Fang and her family lived in Jackson Heights and Ridgewood until settling into their tidy Flushing home eight years ago. Daughter Elisa Chen said her mother, knowing little English, found work in garment factories until the hard labor crippled her in the early 1990s.”Her hands can't even wring a towel,” said Chen, who often slipped into present tense in speaking of her mother. But even as her health constrained her mobility, Fang found ways to help people and had just bought a monthly Metrocard to get around the city.”She doesn't take the train too often,” her daughter said. “She had just bought the card.” Chen said it was likely that her mother had emerged from the 71st Avenue subway station opposite her bus stop, forcing her to cross Queens Boulevard.Chen dismissed the idea that her mother was jaywalking to catch a departing bus.”We weren't there, and she can't tell us, but she definitely didn't jaywalk,” she said.The day after Fang died, the grandson she helped raise turned 6 years old. “He cried and asked if she's going to be okay,” Chen said. “For the first two years, she looked after him everyday.””She was very outgoing. She took care of everything,” Chen said, and noted that Fang's generous personality was the ideal match for her husband, who heads the city's Hunan Association aiding newly arrived immigrants from the province.”If they had the contacts, they'll help out” with problems immigrants can face, Chen said. Recently, Fang had visited her ailing mother in China. “She was very happy to be back (home),” Chen said. “She's worked all her life and she never got to enjoy it.”Reporter Zach Patberg contributed to this article. Reach reporter Sophia Chang by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 146.
