The Department of Transportation is being asked to expedite installation of traffic lights at New Lots Avenue and Essex Street in Brooklyn, where 14 people were injured in a chain-reaction collision Sunday involving at least four vehicles, including an MTA bus.
The “urgency” of the request “is clearly evident as the community is concerned for those injured,” Council member Charles Barron’s office said in a statement on Monday. One of the injured was in critical condition. Signals for the “notorious corner” were already approved, said the statement, which was released by Clay Omowale, chief of staff.
There was no immediate comment from the DOT.
The NYPD is investigating the chain-reaction collision, which occurred about 8:30 p.m., in the East New York community. Police said the pile-up started when a vehicle driven by 23-year-old Chandiana Jean, of Brooklyn, struck another vehicle in the rear, sending it into the intersection. At least two other vehicles were then struck, including an MTA bus.
Jean was arrested at the scene and charged as an aggravated unlicensed operator; she was in stable condition at Jamaica Hospital Medical Center. A rear passenger in Jean’s vehicle was in critical condition at Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center.
The NYPD’s Highway Collision Investigation Squad is investigating.
