Lower East Side One Of Most Dangerous Nabes For Commuters: Study

LOWER EAST SIDE, NY — New Yorkers are three times more likely to be injured or killed while traversing a stretch of road from the Lower East Side to Soho, according to a new study detailing the most dangerous neighborhoods for cyclists and pedestrians.

A staggering 826 pedestrians and 515 cyclists were injured in crashes with 10 killed near Delancey and Kenmare streets bounded by Spring and Grand streets, from Broadway to Forsyth Street over a five year period in the neighborhoods, according to data crunched by Localize.city, which compiles public data for neighborhood profiles.

A team of data scientists with Localize.city studied street safety at every city intersection from Jan. 1, 2013 to Jan. 1 2018, uncovering 12 neighborhoods where pedestrians and cyclists are three times more likely to be injured or killed in a collision.

Analysts weighted one-, two- and multi-lane streets differently to avoid skewing the analysis towards streets with more traffic. Researches then pinpointed residential buildings located within 500 feet of the most dangerous intersections and mapped out the largest "clusters" of these buildings, according to the website's report.

Neighborhoods including Williamsburg, Ridgewood and University Heights were among the most dangerous areas for New Yorkers to travel on foot or by bike with hot spots often located near bridges or elevated subway tracks.

"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.
"This is exacerbated in places like Williamsburg and the Lower East Side, where many vehicles find their way to the bridge through busy residential neighborhoods," Lassiter noted.

The city is working to make streets safer through the de Blasio administration's Vision Zero program and several of the areas identified in the Localize.city study, including those in Lower Manhattan, have already or will receive safety overhauls from the city's Department of Transportation.

But some locals and transportation advocates say those changes are not happening fast enough and hope the study's alarming numbers will spur action.

"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, the executive director of Transportation Alternatives.

Photo courtesy of Jenna Fisher/Patch