Push To Slow Cars On L.I.C. Street
Days after a Maspeth teenager was run down by an out-ofcontrol vehicle on a Long Island City street while on his way to class, area students and civic leaders gathered last Thursday, Mar. 14, at the site of the accident to publicly call upon the Department of Transportation (DOT) to make the roadway safer for both drivers and pedestrians.
The press conference was convened by City Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer, who urged the DOT to conduct a traffic safety study and institute changes along the stretch of Thomson Avenue between Van Dam Street and Skillman Avenue following the deadly accident last Monday, Mar. 11, that claimed the life of 16-year-old Drudak Tenzin of Maspeth.
As reported in last week’s Times Newsweekly, Tenzin and four other individuals were struck by a minivan which lost control and mounted the sidewalk while traveling along Thomson Avenue near 30th Street. The teenager, a student at the nearby High School of Applied Communication, died of his injuries. The other victims suffered injuries which were not life-threatening.
Before the fatal accident, Van Bramer noted, community leaders and area schools—including La- Guardia Community College—had contacted the DOT to request a study of the six-block stretch of Thomson Avenue and install traffic control devices to slow vehicles down.
“They know how dangerous it is to go to work, to school right along this corridor,” Van Bramer said, remarking that Thomson Avenue— which links Queens Boulevard with the entrances to the upper roadway of the Ed Koch-Queensboro Bridge and the Queens-Midtown Tunnel (via Skillman Avenue)—is one of the busiest streets in the entire city.
Despite previous appeals to the DOT, the council member claimed, the agency declined to take action. When a request was made to study the timing of traffic lights at the intersection after students claimed there was not enough time for them to safely cross Thomson Avenue, he added, the DOT concluded that the timing of the signals were working properly.
“The truth is that this area, which has tens of thousands of cars going through it every single day, is right in front of LaGuardia Community College that has 17,000 students and several high schools that also have thousands of students,” Van Bramer said. “This is a ticking time bomb, one that tragically has already resulted in the death of a 16-year-old high school student. We cannot afford any more incidents like the one that happened this week.”
“It is impossible to spend any amount of time here and not conclude that it can be made safer,” the legislator added. He said that the DOT needs “to conduct a very comprehensive and thorough safety and traffic study” and bring additional traffic and safety agents to the area.
Van Bramer also noted that the DOT should close a gap in barricades lining Thomson Avenue at the site of last Monday’s accident, noting that the breach allowed the minivan to mount the sidewalk and hit Tenzin and the other victims.
“It’s a shame that a student had to give his life to call attention to this,” said Community Board 2 Chairperson Joseph Conley. “We’ve asked the DOT for many improvements here. It’s gone unanswered. But today, I can assure you through the Council member, we will see action. It’s long overdue, and we’re sorry this had to happen.”
Those comments were echoed by others attending the press conference, including representatives of nearby high schools and LaGuardia Community College.
Shah Ahminad, president of La- Guardia Community College’s student council, noted that hundreds of students signed a petition circulated last July requesting that the DOT study traffic safety on Thomson Avenue.
“We cannot afford to lose any more of my brothers and sisters,” he said. “We cannot risk our lives to come to school anymore. Please do something.”
“We all care deeply about the lives of our students,” added Bard High School Principal Patricia Sharpe, who spoke on behalf of other high schools in the area. In the aftermath of Tenzin’s death, she noted, the Department of Education dispatched grief counselors to the area high schools “but there was no crossing guard on the street.”
“There’s absolutely no concern at this place where someone was killed,” Sharpe added.
“Tragedies like these are preventable, and tragedies like these must be prevented,” said Michael Murphy of Transportation Alternatives, a public advocacy group. “Crashes like these can be prevented with more effective street designs and better enforcement of our traffic laws, and this must be done if a community like this is to survive.”
