LES Intersections Make List Of City's Most Dangerous: Study

LOWER EAST SIDE, NY — The Lower East Side has two intersections that are among the city's most dangerous single-lane streets for pedestrians and cyclists, according to a new study.

Eighteen pedestrians and cyclists were injured between Jan. 2013 and Jan. 2018 at the intersections of Rivington and Ludlow streets and Rivington and Clinton streets, according to data compiled by real estate website Localize.city.

The two intersections make the list of the city's top 20 most dangerous one-lane intersections.

"A lot of attention has been given to dangerous large avenues and thoroughfares in recent years — and rightly so," said Localize.city urban planner Alon Goldstein. "But remember that dangerous driving can, and does, still happen on quiet neighborhood streets."

While these Lower East Side streets are anything but quiet — trails of honking cars snaking through the one-way, often construction-laden streets towards the Williamsburg Bridge or Holland Tunnel everyday — Localize.city estimates 8 percent of pedestrian and cyclist injuries or fatalities occur in single-lane intersections.

"These intersections can be troublesome to those traversing them on a daily basis," said Localize.city data scientist Israel Schwartz.

Last August, Localize found New Yorkers are three times more likely to be injured or killed in a several block swath of the Lower East Side. The data site found 826 pedestrians and 515 cyclists were injured and 10 were killed between 2013 and 2018 along Delancey and Kenmare Sts. from Forsyth to Broadway, bounded by Spring and Grand Sts.

The latest study reveals the two intersections with the most concentrated number of injuries in the Lower East Side.

Seven pedestrians and four cyclists were injured at Rivington and Ludlow Sts., and five pedestrians and two cyclists were injured at Rivington and Clinton Sts.

A few blocks south of the most dangerous Lower East Side intersections, locals have been griping about traffic problems at Grand and Clinton Sts. for years.

The Department of Transportation has been attempting to calm traffic problems on the streets, particularly when Manhattanites were bracing for major traffic changes during the now-canceled L train shutdown. The DOT was planning to close Williamsburg Bridge access via Clinton St. during the HOV-3 hours while the L train was repaired, among other street fixes, though it is unclear what will come of those traffic solutions under a new L train tunnel repair project.

In November, DOT added a quarter-mile of protected bike lanes along Delancey St. in anticipation of 22,000 cyclists expected to commute on the bridge during the L train shutdown. The new bike lanes, however, included a narrow gap at the base of the bridge, which could not be quickly fixed due to underground structures.

"New York City needs to be redesigning all of its streets to comply with a Vision Zero design standard so people are safe getting where they need to go, whether on foot, on bike or in a vehicle," said Thomas DeVito, senior director of advocacy at Transportation Alternatives.

Photo credit: David Allen/Patch