Upper West Siders don’t know whether to stay or go since crosswalk markers started malfunctioning in record numbers. According to the NY Post, at least 13 of the conflicting white "crossing man" and red "flashing hand" signals were counted in the neighborhood by City Councilwoman Gale Brewer's office. Brewer is concerned about the peril the mixed signals present to pedestrians, especially senior citizens. "We worry about them even if we have signals that are functioning properly," she said. "Now that they're not, it's even more of a worry." But what is the city going to do about it?
On her ten-block walk home from the supermarket one woman noticed seven broken signals. She called 311 to report the problem, but nothing was fixed. "I was stunned," said Brigitta Ortner, 81. "I thought this is the stupidest thing I've ever seen." Brewer's survey found “Walk” and “Don’t Walk” symbols flashing simultaneously at the SE corner of 64th Street and Broadway, at Columbus Avenue and 70th, 71st, 74th, 77th, 81st and 84th streets and at all four corners of 81st Street and Amsterdam Avenue. The Department of Transportation has now set about fixing the confusing crosswalks. According to the agency—which repaired the glass plates on 5,000 of the city’s 100,000 crosswalk signals last year—the markers have reached "the end of their expected seven-year life cycle."
