'My Dad Was Hit On Queens Blvd': Woman Says Road Is Still Unsafe

FOREST HILLS, QUEENS -- Judith Berman was on the verge of tears as she rushed out of what she'd hoped would be a productive meeting with the city's Department of Transportation.

Berman arrived two hours ahead of time to the Community Council meeting in Forest Hills for a much-anticipated Q&A with the DOT on Queens Boulevard - a roadway once dubbed "the boulevard of death." But while Mayor Bill de Blasio claims the roadway has shed its nickname after a massive safety overhaul, Berman claimed some of the dangers still exist, which led to her father's own brush with death when he was hit by a car while crossing it just a week before his 88th birthday.

"I need for people to understand that there's still a very, very serious problem with pedestrian safety on Queens Boulevard," Berman told Patch.

But she said her concerns were drowned out at the meeting by hoards of locals who'd arrived to complain about controversial bike lanes the DOT installed along the boulevard. Upon learning she'd have to wait hours to voice her concerns - her spot in the front left row would put her among the last in the room to speak - Berman was out.

"I know the bike lanes are affecting businesses, but I was there early - I was prepared," she said. "I needed to speak about my father."

Berman said her father, Andrew Spitz, was crossing Queens Boulevard on the evening of Nov. 15 when a car slammed into him. The driver, who'd made a fast turn onto the roadway from 108th Street claimed he saw Spitz, but hadn't been able to stop in time.

Spitz, just a week shy of turning 88, called Bergman in tears as medics took him to Jamaica Hospital, where doctors stitched up deep cuts to his head and treated the bruising all over his body. The driver who hit him walked away from the crash with a $250 fine for failing to yield to a pedestrian, Berman said.

She felt such slap-on-the-wrist fines for hitting a pedestrian are one of many factors contributing to a boulevard she she believes is still deadly, despite the city's claims that Vision Zero projects have made it safe again.

"There's not nearly enough enforcement right now," Berman said. "Someone who makes a turn but can't stop in time is inexcusable. My father was lucky to survive."

Berman claims that despite bike lanes and other safety measures being added along Queens Boulevard in recent years, residents continue to have safety problems with the roadway. She believe several stem from drivers' lack of respect for pedestrians, something she hopes could be fixed with higher fines for hitting one.

"The penalty should be severe enough to really discourage drivers from taking that kind of chance," Berman said.

The $250 charged to the driver who hit her father didn't even begin to cover the time he lost to doctor's appointments and recovery time for his injuries, Berman said.

"This took away from Thanksgiving, Christmas, his birthday - just the quality of life," she said.

She said the hit also took a mental toll on her father, who is now afraid to cross the street and travels most places by taxi. Spitz had already been wary of crossing Queens Boulevard, often opting to take the subway as an underpass until his age didn't allow it, Berman said.

"This has been a very traumatic experience for him, and it was a needless accident," she said. "The crux of the matter is that a car was turning too fast."

Berman said a DOT representative did follow her out of the community council meeting once she left to ask for her feedback on the boulevard, and she's since written and talked on the phone with the department.

She hopes that aside from enacting stiffer penalties for drivers who hit pedestrians, the city will consider simple safety measures for the boulevard, like crossing guards or a separate lights for turning signals. She also would like to see MTA elevators at subway stations on both sides of the boulevard, for people like her dad who want to use the stations as an underpass but can't walk the stairs.

"You never know when a car is going to show up out of the clear blue and make a turn fast while you're trying to walk," Berman said. "It needs to be known by the police department, the state assembly, the city council and the mayor that there has to be a much more serious attitude to protecting these intersections."

Lead photo via Judith Berman.