News reports have documented the three recent New York City car crashes that left vulnerable road users injured or dead, with some commentators directing harsh criticism toward city officials in a year of road violence unprecedented in the de Blasio Administration. E-Bike Rider Killed in Queens On October 11th, an e-bike rider was struck by the teenage driver of […]
Wrongful Death
New York Gov. Hochul Apologizes to Nursing Home Victims’ Families
Last week New York Governor Kathy Hochul met with the children of nursing home residents who died during the Covid-19 pandemic and apologized for the state’s handling of the crisis, according to reports by local news outlets. In a press conference the next day, she reportedly said, “I apologized for the pain that those poor […]
Syracuse Nursing Home Placed on “Special Focus” List
A “troubled” nursing home in Syracuse, New York has been placed on the federal government’s “special focus facilities list,” meaning it may end up named one of the worst-performing facilities in the country for a second time, according to a report by Syracuse.com.
Is NYC Reckless Driving Course Enough to Stop Reckless Driving?
New York City’s “court-ordered safe-driving course” for reckless drivers has drawn criticism after reports that the motorist who struck and killed a 3-month-old in Brooklyn had previously completed the program. According to StreetsBlog, the driver, Tyrik Mott, “did not alter his violent driving behavior in any way” after completing the program on May 4th, 2021, after […]
2021 Named the “Deadliest Summer” for NYC Streets
An analysis by transit safety group Transportation Alternatives found that the summer of 2021 was the “deadliest summer” of New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration, which launched its “Vision Zero” program to eliminate traffic violence deaths in the city seven years ago. According to Transportation Alternatives, 77 people died in car crashes over between June […]
Deadly Car Crashes Kill Two Pedestrians in NYC Last Week
Two pedestrians were killed in car crashes in New York City on Tuesday, September 28th, incidents described by StreetsBlog as “the latest carnage in what has become the most-deadly year of Mayor de Blasio’s two terms in office.” One incident involved a driver “making a left turn from Avenue U onto notorious Ocean Parkway” in Brooklyn, hitting […]
Moped Regulation Comes to New York City
The New York City Department of Transportation has proposed new rules that would regulate the use of moped share services, like Revel and Lime, within the city. According to a report by StreetsBlog, the rules would prohibit moped share usage on the Brooklyn Bridge, the Manhattan Bridge, the Queensboro Bridge, and the Williamsburg Bridge, as well […]
OSHA Developing Heat Standard for Construction Sites
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration will develop “a federal standard” to prevent health issues stemming from extreme heat on construction sites, according to a report by Construction Dive. In a press release, the agency announced it would initiate a rulemaking process that will include a comment period from various stakeholders as it works to establish new standards. […]
NYC Looks to Enforcing Bike Lane Parking Violations
The New York City Department of Transportation has released a “Request for Expressions of Interest” for vendors interested in developing an automated enforcement program for the city’s bike lanes, according to a report by StreetsBlog, whose report suggests the request shows the city’s interest in a “crack down on scofflaw drivers who illegally park and stop […]
NYC Issues Almost 1,500 Stop Work Orders in Construction Safety Sweep
A New York City Department of Buildings safety sweep this month resulted in 3,600 violations and 1,499 stop work orders issued to construction contractors. According to a report by Construction Dive, the sweeps were launched because of a spate of construction site fatalities in the city, with seven workers dying in the first five months of 2021—two […]
Why Hasn’t NYC Implemented Its New Reckless Driving Law?
The man suspected of killing a three-month-old baby in a reckless driving incident in Brooklyn earlier this month had a suspended licensed, 91 speeding tickets, and an arrest on his record for driving without a valid license, according to a report by StreetsBlog. The 28-year-old driver, Tyrik Mott, was also “racing the wrong way down Gates Avenue” when the […]
NYC Pols Discuss Unsafe Basement Apartments After Deadly Floods
The deadly flooding brought to New York City by the remnants of Hurricane Ida has sparked conversations among policymakers about the tens of thousands of New Yorkers living in dangerous and likely illegal basement apartments. As City and State reported last week, basement apartments are defined as those where at least half the unit is above grade, […]
How Can NYC Prepare For Future Flooding?
In the wake of the flash flooding that killed at least 22 in New York and New Jersey last week, local news publication City and State spoke with a variety of “climate experts and activists” about what what can be done to prepare New York City for future flooding events and protect New Yorkers from deadly floodwaters. […]
NY Assemblyman: Hold For-Profit Nursing Homes Accountable
A report released last year by New York Assemblyman Ron Kim examined the thousands of deaths from Covid-19 in the state’s nursing homes in an attempt to identify underlying problems that caused the raft of fatalities and what can be done to address those problems. The report, published by Kim’s office in July 2020, is […]
Lawmakers Call for National Vision Zero to End Car Crash Deaths
Two lawmakers have introduced a resolution that would call for a “National Vision Zero” campaign, according to a recent report by StreetsBlog. Vision Zero is an effort to eliminate traffic fatalities. The resolution, introduced by Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Representative Jan Schakowsky of Illinois, calls on Congress and the Department of Transportation to “commit to working together […]
New NYC Bill Would Increase Penalties for E-Bike Hit-and-Runs
New York State Senator Liz Krueger, who represents the Upper East Side of Manhattan, has introduced a bill that would “make it a felony for electric-vehicle riders to crash into someone and leave the scene,” according to a report by Steetsblog. The bill joins another proposal by State Senator Brad Hoylman of the Upper West Side which would […]
NYC Construction Deaths Yield No-Tolerance Sweeps
New York City building inspectors are implementing “zero-tolerance sweeps” in the city’s job sites, according to a recent report by Construction Dive. The sweeps are in response to “three worker deaths in recent weeks, two of which were the result of falls,” according to the report, and have resulted in 322 sites shut down due to hazardous conditions. The […]
The Citadel Rehab and Nursing Center Cited for Abuse, Elopement
The Citadel Rehab and Nursing Center at Kingsbridge has received eight citations for violations of public health laws between 2017 and 2021, according to New York State Department of Health records accessed on June 18, 2021. Those citations include a finding of systemic accident hazards in the facility, which also received a $10,000 fine in […]
Reports Describe Hit-and-Runs in New York City
Recent news reports describe two hit-and-runs in New York City in the last few months, one of which killed a cyclist in the Bronx. According to StreetsBlog, the cyclist was on Southern Boulevard in Bronx Park when he was hit by the driver of a Mercedez Benz apparently attempting to overtake him “at an apparent high rate of […]
NYC Devotes $39 Million to End Car Crashes on McGuinness Boulevard
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has committed to carving out nearly $40 million from the city’s budget to redesign Brooklyn’s McGuinness Boulevard, site of eleven pedestrian deaths and three cyclist deaths since 1995. According to StreetsBlog, a single 1.25-mile stretch of McGuinness Boulevard, from the Pulaski Bridge to the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, has been […]
Rising SUV Ownership in NYC Threatens Pedestrians, Cyclists
A trove of data about SUV ownership in New York City, obtained by street safety advocacy group Transportation Alternatives, reveals that New York City residents “are buying SUVs at an increasingly high rate, and larger vehicles are contributing to more cyclist and pedestrian deaths” in the city. In the period between 2016 and 2020, SUV ownership in […]
Study Finds Speeding Epidemic In New York City
A recent study by street safety advocacy group Transportation Alternatives has uncovered an epidemic of speeding in New York City, finding that 70% of drivers observed were driving faster than the speed limit. “Speeding drivers are a leading cause of death and injury on New York City streets,” the study notes, but because city officials “do not have control over speed […]
New Bill Would Reduce Blood Alcohol Limit in New York
The New York state legislature is currently considering a bill that would reduce the legal blood alcohol limit in the state from .08 to 0.05. If the bill becomes law, New York would be the second state in the nation to reduce the legal blood alcohol limit to .05, after Utah. According to a report by the New […]
Why Are There So Few Car Crash Prosecutions in Long Island?
A recent analysis by the publication Newsday found that in Long Island, “few drivers involved in crashes that kill pedestrians and bicyclists face criminal charges.” In an examination of car crashes that resulted in the deaths of involving pedestrians and cyclists in 2019 and 2020, Newsday found that there were 135 total pedestrian and cyclist fatalities, but only 20 prosecutions of […]
Car Crash Deaths Rise in Staten Island
A recent article in the Staten Island Advance analyzes the upsurge of traffic deaths that have occurred on Staten Island in 2021. According to the report, there have been eight road violence deaths in Staten Island since January 2021, “more than double the three traffic deaths the borough had seen by this time last year.” The uptick […]
