Motor vehicles are the number one cause of death for children in NYC, but a new study (below) by Transportation Alternatives finds that children in or around public housing projects are disproportionately at risk. The report, which analyzed Dept. of Motor Vehicle data 1995-2009, says there are child crash "hot spots" in neighborhoods such as East Harlem and the Lower East Side, particularly near the projects. The LES recently saw a 12-year-old girl fatally run over while crossing the infamously dangerous Delancey Street, but the study finds East Harlem has the "worst intersection for child crashes" in all of Manhattan: East 125th Street and Lexington Avenue.
According to the report, children under 18 make up about 30% of residents in both East Harlem and the Upper East Side. But in East Harlem, children account for 43% of crash victims, while Upper East Side children represent less than 15% of neighborhood car crashes with pedestrians and bicyclists. The study doesn't try to fully explain why there's such a disproportionate impact on low-income communities, but some contributing factors may include driver speeding on streets next to public housing, more jaywalking mid-block because of the "superblock layout" of developments, and a "greater density of children" in the projects.
"This map shows us an injustice, pure and simple," says Damaris Reyes the Executive Director of the Good Old Lower East Side and resident of Baruch Houses. "Our kids living in public housing on the Lower East Side, including my own children, deserve safe streets just as much as any other child in the city. The NYPD needs to get its priorities straight and crack down on dangerous driving."
Transportation Alternatives believes the stats show a need for streets adjacent to public housing areas to be considered similarly to school zones. And City Councilmember City Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito, whose district includes East Harlem, says, "We need immediate action to address dangerous driving habits and must improve traffic patterns in high risk areas. Bike lanes in East Harlem are certainly one part of the solution, but more can be done."
