New York, NY – Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal (D/WF-Manhattan) called on the New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) to implement a safety redesign of the dangerous intersection at West 57th Street between Broadway and 8th Avenue in light of today’s crash, which fatally injured an unidentified woman in her 50s.

“I have raised concerns about the safety of this stretch of West 57th Street for months, and have called on DOT to undertake a comprehensive safety redesign,” said Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal. “How many more fatalities or serious injuries must occur before this intersection is made safe for pedestrians?”

Between 2007 and 2011, the last years for which data is available, the intersection was the site of eight crashes resulting in serious physical injury or fatality, placing it first among the top 20 most dangerous intersections for pedestrians citywide, according to DOT’s own website.

Assemblymember Rosenthal convened a meeting with DOT, Manhattan’s Community Board 4 and ChekPeds to discuss the improvements needed to make the intersection safer and urged the agency to take action to implement safety design features. She followed that meeting with a letter to the agency (text below), outlining some easily accomplished improvements. Rosenthal has been urging the DOT for months to accelerate its process, but no action to date has been taken.

“My constituents and I take the promise of Vision Zero seriously, and we are relying on DOT to make good on its word and make this intersection safe now,” said Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal.

Assemblymember Rosenthal is the prime sponsor of several pieces of legislation that would make New York’s streets safer for pedestrians, including bill A.2128 which would increase penalties for repeat reckless or dangerous drivers, bill A.2127-A, which would redefine recklessness with respect to traffic crashes to ensure that prosecutors and judges have the tools they need to get dangerous and reckless drivers off the streets and bill A.7481, to expand the list of intoxicating substances for which an individual could be found guilty of drugged driving.