Queens CB Member Says Pedestrians 'Deserve To Get Run Over'

FLUSHING, QUEENS — A Queens community board member is under fire for saying pedestrians "deserve to get run over" after a video of her speaking during a May civic association meeting surfaced on Twitter.

"I've gotta be honest with you, Vision Zero's a joke," Queens Community Board 7 member Kim Ohanian said in the Queensboro Hill Flushing Civic Association meeting on May 20. "I've watched people cross the street while they're still talking on their damn phones."

"You know what, they deserve to get run over," Ohanian added, garnering laughter from other meeting attendees.

CB07Q member Kim O’Hanion:
“And I gotta be honest wit’ ya, #VisionZero is a joke! I’ve watched people cross the street while… still talkin' on their damn phones. YOU KNOW WHAT THEY DESERVE TO GET RUN OVER!” @NYC_DOT @NYCMayor @NYCSpeakerCoJo @MelindaKatz pic.twitter.com/PUnkzIal4s
— Diedrich vanVlissingen (@VlissingenVan) July 17, 2019

Ohanian, who chairs the board's parks committee, made the remarks after the NYC Department of Transportation briefed attendees on a proposal for bike lanes on 59th and 60th Avenues in Flushing.

Asked about the video during a Friday press conference, Mayor Bill de Blasio said: "It's absolutely inappropriate. We're gonna look into who that employee is and whatever appropriate disciplinary measures can be taken."

"That's someone who does not understand their responsibilities as a public servant," de Blasio said.

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As a video clip of Ohanian's comments spread on social media, some street safety advocates called for her removal from the community board. A community board member may be removed for good cause by the board or the borough president.

Reached by phone Friday, Ohanian said, "I have nothing to say, I'm sorry. I have no comment."

A Queens Community Board 7 member referred Patch's questions to District Manager Marilyn McAndrews, who she said was in a meeting and currently unavailable.

Other meeting attendees lambasted the transportation department's proposal, claiming that cyclists are more dangerous than cars and insisting bike lanes should be limited to neighborhood parks, the video shows.

Ohanian, who says she has lived in the neighborhood for more than 50 years, has been an outspoken opponent of the city's plans to add bike lanes to the neighborhood. She lives on 59th Avenue, one of the proposed sites for new bike lanes.

"I cannot and will not ever support this plan; you're planning on putting a bike lane on my street in front of my house," Ohanian said in March, according to a QNS report. "How in God’s name do you think this will work without somebody getting killed?"

Queens Borough President Melinda Katz in April reappointed Ohanian to Queens Community Board 7, which covers Flushing, Bay Terrace, College Point, Queensborough Hill, Whitestone and Willets Point.

Spokespeople for Katz have not responded to requests for comment.

"Obviously, nobody deserves to get run over," Scott Sieber, a spokesman for City Council Member Peter Koo, wrote in an email. "The comments were inappropriate and callous to many in our community who have suffered from vehicular violence."

"Any disciplinary action would be up to the community board," Sieber added, "although it should be noted that this took place at a local civic meeting, not a community board meeting."

Ohanian also serves as a vice president of the Queens Civic Congress, a coalition of the borough's civic associations.

She chairs the Congress's Parks & Cultural Affairs committee and its Public Safety committee.

This story has been updated to add Kim Ohanian's response declining to comment and statements from Mayor Bill de Blasio and a spokesman for City Council Member Peter Koo.