Road Beautiful but Deadly: Ocean Pkwy. carnage close to Queens Blvd.'s
The New York Daily News
By Elizabeth Hays

[ Return to T.A. Quotes in the Media | Read the latest news on this subject ]

Tree-lined Ocean Parkway, where two young sisters were run down and killed in a horrific accident, is the most deadly thoroughfare in Brooklyn.

Since 1998, 13 pedestrians and bicyclists have died along the bucolic roadway, which is often hailed by city planners as a successful urban model for its bike lanes, benches and pedestrian promenades.

But behind the parkway's beauty lies danger and death. The bloody toll grew this weekend when a car jumped the curb and ran down four people, among them the two girls who died.

According to statistics from the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, a transit watchdog group, Ocean Parkway figures just after Queens Blvd. - which has been dubbed the Boulevard of Death - for the most cyclist and pedestrian deaths per mile of any street in the city.

In the period from 1998 through last year, Queens Blvd. had 2.41 deaths per mile. In that period, 18 pedestrians or cyclists were killed.

Ocean Parkway came in a close second at 2.39 deaths per mile.

"It's an attractive street," said Lisa Schreibman, New York City coordinator for the Tri-State Transportation Campaign. "It is a much superior design to Queens Boulevard," she continued. "But it doesn't mean that Ocean Parkway works perfectly."

Neel Scott, campaign manager at Transportation Alternatives, another advocacy group, agreed.

Both organizations lauded the eight-lane thoroughfare - which connects the Prospect Expressway with Shore Parkway - for its 30- foot pedestrian-friendly medians that separate its interior lanes from its outer service roads.

But both also said that the city could make changes to intersections to make it safer for pedestrians and bikers to coexist with the fast-moving traffic.

"It's the turning in general - both from the main road onto the side streets and from the cross streets onto the main part of Ocean Parkway - that's the problem," said Schreibman.

In particular, Schreibman suggested that the city Department of Transportation install raised crosswalks, in clearly marked colors, to connect the pedestrian medians on both sides of each intersection. Tom Cocola, a city Department of Transportation spokesman, said the agency will study the recommendations.

"We applaud the Tri-State study," said Cocola. "It brings to light the fact that there are many streets in the city of New York where pedestrians and motorists have to exercise extreme care," he said.

Last Friday evening, while driving north on Ocean Parkway, Issac Chehebar, 20, of Avenue T, lost control of a borrowed Porsche near the intersection of Avenue X. The car jumped the curb and ran onto the pedestrian median.

Inna Shetman, 15, was killed instantly. Her 10-year-old sister, Svetlana, suffered mortal injuries. Their mother, Rima, was taken to Lutheran Medical Center in critical condition. Anthony Abbate Jr., 15, who was standing nearby, suffered a broken leg.

Detective Valerie St. Rose, a Police Department spokeswoman, said she could not provide details on how the collision occurred.

"There are no charges at this time," she said. "It is still under investigation."

[ Return to T.A. Quotes in the Media | Read the latest news on this subject ]