Jackson Heights Among Most Dangerous Spots To Bike & Walk: Study

JACKSON HEIGHTS, QUEENS -- Cyclists and pedestrians may want to proceed with caution into Jackson Heights and Corona, according to a new study that found the neighborhood to be among the most dangerous to pedal or walk through.

With more than 1,500 injuries - and nearly two dozen deaths - in five years combined, the Queens neighborhoods were among a dozen dangerous hot spots throughout New York City where pedestrians and cyclists were three times more likely to be hurt or killed in a crash, according to a report released Wednesday by Localize.city, a website that analyzes citywide data on a hyperlocal level.

Crashes in Jackson Heights killed nine people and injured a staggering 499 pedestrians and 240 cyclists from 79th to 84th streets between 37th Avenue and Broadway, the study found.

Corona saw another nine people killed in its most dangerous area between 35th and Roosevelt avenues from 94th to 108th streets, the report states. The neighborhood saw another 455 pedestrians and 332 cyclists injured in crashes.

Analysts at Localize.city studied street safety data at every New York City intersection from January 2013 to January 2018 to pinpoint a dozen areas where pedestrians and cyclists were most likely to get hurt or killed.

One-, two- and multi-lane streets were each weighted differently to avoid bias toward streets with more traffic, analysts said. They then pinpointed residential buildings within 500 feet of the most dangerous intersections and used the datasets to map out the biggest "clusters" of crash risk.

“Buildings in these dangerous ‘clusters’ saw about 238 crashes, on average, in their nearby intersections where pedestrians or cyclists were injured in the past five years,” said Localize.city data scientist Israel Schwartz. “That compares to the citywide average of 75.”

The study found intersections near bridges or under elevated tracks to be the diciest, which analysts noted is likely because converging transportation modes can block one's sight.

“Around major bridges in New York City, you have heavy vehicle, bike, and pedestrian traffic all cramming into a narrow corridor, increasing the risk of crashes," said Localize.city urban planner Andrew Lassiter.

“In neighborhoods with elevated subway or LIRR tracks, the streets below the tracks can be pretty chaotic."

The study found Brooklyn's Williamsburg and the Bronx's University Heights to be among the city's most dangerous areas to peddle and bike through, with each tallying upwards of 1,000 injuries.

But Queens took up more space on the list than any other borough, according to the study, which found it home to four of the city's dozen most dangerous neighborhoods for cyclists and pedestrians.

Despite lower injury rates than some of the other areas, Flushing had the city's highest number of crash deaths, 12, according to the study.

Queens neighborhoods Jamaica and Ridgewood also made the list.

In Jamaica, 351 pedestrian and 46 cyclists were hurt with four killed on 89th and 90th avenues between 164th Street and 168th Place, according to Localize.city. Ridgewood saw 237 pedestrians and 98 cyclists injured with three killed between Woodward and Myrtle avenues from Grove Street to Forest Avenue.

The study noted the city has made strides to reduce crash deaths and injuries in several neighborhoods on the list under Mayor de Blasio's Vision Zero initiative, with pedestrian traffic deaths dropping by 32 percent in 2017 the lowest number on record.

Still, some advocates argue such changes are not happening soon enough.

“We know how to prevent death and serious injury on our streets, and with this study, we also have a better understanding of where the City should target investments in safer street redesigns,” said Paul Steely White, executive director of Transportation Alternatives.

Lead photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images