By Nathan Duke
A Bayside family and their neighbors said they were concerned the corner of 214th Place and 39th Avenue was unsafe after an accident at the intersection caused a vehicle to plow onto the front yard of the family’s home last weekend.
Freddy and Juana Russo, who live on the corner of 214th Place at 39th Avenue, said the Saturday crash was the second of its type following a similar incident in October, during which two cars collided at the intersection and one of them ended up on their front lawn. Neighbors said they believed the city should create a four-way stop at the site.
“We have four children that are at risk of being hurt whenever they play,” Freddy Russo said. “If it weren’t for the boulders that surround our front garden, both cars would have hit our home.”
Both corners on 214th Place have stop signs, but the sign next to the family’s home was knocked down during the crash. Juana Russo said she was told the city would replace the sign within 48 hours, but the sign was not replaced until Tuesday morning. The city’s Transportation Department could not be reached for comment.
Neighbors said another accident occurred at the intersection Monday afternoon.
Police had placed a cone with a stop sign on it at the intersection following the crash, but it had been removed the following day, neighbors said.
Sandy Aiosa, manager of Lloyd Funeral Home at the corner of 215th Street and 39th Avenue, said there have been numerous crashes at the intersection during the 29 years he has worked in the community.
“Kids are usually playing on the street, so it could have been a disaster,” he said of the recent crash. “Someone could get killed over there.”
The funeral home’s corner has a four-way stop, but Aiosa said he believed it was more urgent to place four stop signs at the corner on 214th Place.
Resident Bob Cole, who has lived on 214th Place for 35 years, said vehicles often come flying down the two roadways and that drivers on his street often do not see the stop sign until it is too late to slow down.
“You can’t see traffic coming until you are in the middle of the street,” Cole said. “There have always been accidents here. I’m afraid a car is going to go right into [the Russos’] living room one day.”
Both the Russos and Aiosa said they believe one contributing factor to problems at the intersection is buses picking up patients at The Shield Institute, an adult treatment center on 214th Place’s corner, and blocking the stop sign in the morning and mid-afternoon. The center declined comment on the matter.
But Cole said he believed the corner was dangerous with or without the buses.
“There weren’t always buses there, but there have always been accidents,” he said.
Reach reporter Nathan Duke by e-mail at nduke@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 156.
