The most dangerous obstructed intersection in Brooklyn is Flatbush Avenue and Avenue H, according to data from a group of transportation nonprofits.
A data study conducted by Transportation Alternatives, Families for Safe Streets and Open Plans found that there are 118 intersections where five or more New Yorkers have been killed or seriously injured over the past three years. Nearly three million New Yorkers live within walking distance (a half mile) of one, the group said.
The most dangerous obstructed intersection in each borough were:
Brooklyn: Flatbush Avenue and Avenue H
Manhattan: West 120th Street and Lenox Avenue
Queens: Northern Boulevard and 48th Street
The Bronx: Bruckner Boulevard and St. Ann’s Avenue
Staten Island: Hunton Street and Richmond Road.
In addition, City Council District 33, which covers Greenpoint, Williamsburg, DUMBO, Downtown Brooklyn and Boerum Hill, and District 41, which covers Bedford-Stuyvesant, Crown Heights, Prospect Lefferts Gardens, Brownsville and East Flatbush, were deemed to have the highest number of dangers intersections in Brooklyn.
“We can’t afford to wait any longer for safe intersections,” said Ben Furnas, executive director at Transportation Alternatives. “Every day, over a million students go to schools across New York City, and every day they have to cross dangerous intersections."
The nonprofits urged the City Council to pass a bill that would require universal daylighting at every intersection. Daylighting is the process of repurposing the curb space closest to an intersection to improve visibility. Today, most intersections in the city allow parking all the way up to the crosswalk — meaning pedestrians can’t see drivers, and drivers can’t see pedestrians until they’re in the middle of the road.
"Obstructed intersections lead to preventable crashes that kill and seriously injure New Yorkers every day," said Families for Safe Streets New York Co-Chair Kate Brockwehl.
