Neighbors Are Shaken, but Not Surprised, by Pedestrian Deaths in Hell’s Kitchen

Posted on 23. Nov, 2009 by Candice Chan in Beats Blog, Crime and Courts, Manhattan, Metro

by Candice Chan

In the last eight weeks, two people have been killed in traffic accidents within a 13-block stretch of Midtown, on 8th and 9th avenues: a 22 year-old Asian man and a 37-year-old Hispanic woman.

Neighbors say they aren’t surprised.

The accidents come only four months after a commemorative funeral procession was held for the six pedestrians hit by motorists on 9th Avenue since 2001. Community advocates, including the Hell’s Kitchen Neighborhood Association and the Clinton/Hell’s Kitchen Coalition for Pedestrian Safety, organized June’s event to call for more traffic cops. The victim from November 4, who was struck by a bus as he was crossing 9th Avenue, is the fourth this year involved in an accident near the Port Authority Bus Terminal, police said.

New York’s traffic fatalities were at an all-time low in 2007, with 136 out of 271 total deaths attributed to pedestrians struck by vehicles. But even with falling numbers of motorist driven casualties, in 2001 the city had almost 120 more. Pedestrian deaths still comprise more than half of the total vehicle-related fatal accidents per year.

“The area on the weekends is pretty chaotic,” said a law enforcement official from Midtown South’s precinct, who preferred not to be identified because he hasn’t been authorized by his superiors to speak to reporters. “If you walk around at night, especially, you just see how many people are here.”

Mark Swick, 41, an employee of Siena pizza, was working the night a 37-year-old Hispanic woman was hit at the corner of 40th Street and 8th Avenue in early September. He said he believes a darkened street lamp on the corner may have contributed to the accident, but acknowledges that the area is dangerous even when the lights are working.

“Even the EMS guys said there have been a bunch of accidents like this around here,” Swick said.

Some Hell’s Kitchen residents hope that in coming months the city will find a way to engage some of its 30,000 police officers to ramp up traffic law enforcement.

Anthony Lopez, 44, is an assistant manager of World Famous Generations Menswear shop near the corner of 40th Street and 8th Avenue. He can recall the accident involving Fabiola Grande-Coyotl, a 23-year-old pregnant woman who was struck and killed by a truck at 38th Street and 9th Avenue last November.

“There were a lot of flowers and pictures then,” said Lopez. “Everyone was really upset.”