A flatbed truck struck and killed a 58-year-old woman crossing West Houston Street on a scooter this morning.
The police said that the victim was run over by the rear wheels of the trailer as it turned onto Sixth Avenue around 8:50 a.m. She was dragged to Minetta Lane before witnesses alerted the truck driver to the horrific accident. “There were a dozen people running up the street screaming and telling him to stop,” one witness told The Daily News.
The latest accident only reinforced the perception that Houston Street is one of the most deadliest thoroughfares in the city.
“Of course today’s tragedy is unique and we don’t know if any of these critical improvements would have prevented it. But we must do everything in our power to prevent the next one,” State Senator Daniel Squadron wrote in a statement, pointing to a bill that would strengthen penalties against reckless drivers, as well as recent safety improvements to Delancey Street.
Suzanne Rozdeba
Suzanne RozdebaGood morning, East Village.
Take note, pet owners: the flyer above and another at right went up around the neighborhood recently.
The Post reports that Kenneth Moreno, the former police officer who was acquitted of raping a woman on duty but fired after being found guilty of official misconduct, is thinking about suing the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office for allegedly planting incriminating evidence.
You’ll recall baggies of heroin were found in Mr. Moreno’s locker, and woes at the stationhouse continue: The Post hears from a source that the last of four 9mm pistols stolen from the locker room was swiped after officers were assigned to patrol the room.
Speaking of guns, The Daily News reports that two teens were arrested at the Union Square station when police officers who stopped them for evading the fare found a pair of guns and two bulletproof vests on them. Read more…
Natalie Rinn The intersection of Bowery and Houston.Ten East Village intersections have been targeted for improvement by the Department of Transportation, including one – the intersection of Houston and Bowery – that has seen a bevy of biking accidents.
Last night at a joint meeting of Community Boards 2 and 3, the department unveiled the findings of a two-year survey covering a southern portion of the East Village as well as portions of Greenwich Village, NoLIta, and the Lower East Side. The study, which can be seen below, identified 15 intersections (10 of them in the East Village) that the city will target for future makeovers, including five intersections (one in the East Village) that were said to be “high accident locations.” From 2008 to 2010, the intersection of Avenue A and First Street saw 25 accidents, 18 of which resulted in injuries and one of which resulted in the death of a pedestrian.
Though the intersection of Houston Street and Bowery wasn’t among those identified by the D.O.T. as the most dangerous, it was that crossing – the city’s most accident-prone intersection for bicyclists from 1995 to 2009 – that initiated the study to begin with, and it was the one most East Village residents spoke up about. The study found noticeable congestion at the intersection, where 10 to 15 percent of daytime vehicles were trucks, and noted that it was in need of changes to better accommodate turns. Read more…
Two adjacent lots on East Houston Street near Attorney Street have recently gone on the market for $9.5 million, The Lo-Down reports. The lots, at 327-329 East Houston Street, are part of the portfolio of the deceased William Gottleib, who was “legendary for hoarding his estimated $1 billion worth of NYC properties,” according to the blog. Following an inter-family struggle, Mr. Gottleib’s nephew is now selling much of the real estate empire piece by piece.
Paul Defiglia A box that used to be loaded with rat poison.
Paul Defiglia Another broken box.Someone broke open a handful of bait boxes loaded with rat poison along Houston Street last night, leaving the deadly pellets scattered on the sidewalk, a reader tells The Local.
Our tipster said that she noticed the turquoise poison on the sidewalk on Houston Street between Second Avenue and Avenue A (once “the most ratted place around”) this morning. A visit to the site later in the day revealed that the boxes had indeed been broken open — including ones on First Street — but no poison was anywhere to be found. The tipster had pressed officials from the Fire Department and the Department of Environmental Protection to clean up the mess.
Still, be alert when walking your pets in the area.
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Phillip Kalantzis-CopeNewly released data of crashes involving pedestrians and cyclists reveals that Bowery and East Houston Street was the city’s most accident-prone intersection for bicyclists from 1995 to 2009.
During that time span, there were 41 accidents at the intersection, according to the advocacy group Transportation Alternatives, which has compiled new data from the New York State Department of Transportation in an interactive map called Crashstat.
Transportation Alternatives said the new statistics pointed to the need for further reforms that would make the city more pedestrian-and-cyclist-friendly.
“As long as the default response to a motor vehicle crash is that it’s an accident, the behavior that’s killing and injuring people will continue,” wrote the group’s director, Paul Steely White, in a press release.
Read more…
A D.O.T. handout from earlier this year, outlining areas