Harlem's 125th Street One Of Deadliest In US, Study Says

HARLEM, NY — The thoroughfare known as "Harlem's Main Street" is one of the most dangerous streets in the nation for pedestrians, according to a recent study.

The report, published earlier this year in the Journal of Transport and Land Use, identified dozens of "hot spots" across the U.S. where at least six pedestrians lost their lives between 2001 and 2016, when the most recent federal data was available.

Among the worst spots: 125th Street between Fifth and Second avenues, where nine people were killed during that 18-year span. That made it one of the most deadly streets in New York, alongside sections of thoroughfares like Canal Street and Bowery in Manhattan, and Brighton Beach Avenue in Brooklyn.

The findings may come as no surprise for Harlemites who have long needed to dodge traffic on 125th, a four-lane street that includes two bus lanes.

The city designated 125th Street as a Vision Zero priority corridor in 2015, due to its high rate of crashes. Nearly 69 percent of pedestrian deaths in Manhattan happen on arterial roadways like 125th Street, 34th Street and Broadway, the city found in 2015.

Since then, 125th Street has seen some improvements, like the addition of bus lanes in 2014 and 2019, and the pedestrian plaza on Park Avenue that opened last month.

Still, more recent data shows that crashes have continued on 125th Street past the study's 2016 terminus. According to the city's Vision Zero data, there have been 33 crashes between Fifth and Second avenues since 2016, injuring 34 pedestrians.

The most recent fatality was a 64-year-old person killed at 125th and Third Avenue in May 2014.

The study was conducted by researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Arizona State University and the planning firm Toole Design Group. It was first reported on by Streetsblog, who said it may be "the only attempt to map the U.S. corridors with the highest numbers of pedestrian deaths ever conducted."

Authors found that pedestrian fatalities are "at their highest level in nearly three decades" and make up an increasing share of total traffic deaths.

"To achieve the vision of a future transportation system that produces zero deaths, pedestrian safety must be improved," they wrote.

Almost all of the "hot spots" identified in the study are multi-lane roads, most of which force pedestrians to cross at least five lanes of traffic. Most bordered low-income neighborhoods.