Vision Zero To Be Ramped Up After Deadly Few Days On NYC Roads

From CBS New York:

NEW YORK CITY – Mayor Bill de Blasio will announce new plans Monday to protect pedestrians after a deadly few days on city streets.

Officials are expected to share details about a new crackdown on dangerous driving during the holidays, reports CBS2’s Jenna DeAngelis.

The focus will be on driver safety.

This map shows where four pedestrians were killed in New York City in a period of fewer than 24 hours last week.

(credit: CBS2)

Two incidents happened in Manhattan – in Hells Kitchen and SoHo – and the other two in the Park Slope and Sunset Park neighborhoods in Brooklyn.

Andreas Stylianou, 57, was starting his work day at New Millennium Motors, an auto service shop he owns in Brooklyn. Around 7 a.m. Friday, he was struck by several vehicles and killed. His employees say he was just steps away from the workplace, crossing Third Avenue from John’s Deli, where he was a regular customer.

Earlier Friday morning, a private sanitation truck for Classic Recycling struck and killed an unidentified man who was crossing on West 49th Street near 10th Avenue in Hell’s Kitchen.

The crackdown is too late for these victims, including 85-year-old Brendan Gill. Gill died after being struck by a box truck Thursday afternoon near the intersection of 39th Street and Third Avenue in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.

About an hour and a half later in SoHo, 26-year-old Katherine Miller was killed by a box truck that police say backed up into her as she crossed Broadway while in the crosswalk.

Three out of four of these pedestrian deaths, those on Thursday and Friday, involved large trucks, prompting Mayor Bill de Blasio to announce on Twitter:

“The NYPD will be ramping up truck enforcement, with extra officers deployed citywide to keep our pedestrians safe.”

City officials say the last week of the year is generally among the deadliest for pedestrians.