Seniors walking targets: Crossing times on streets too short: report
Daily News
Oren Yaniv

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Senior citizens of New York: Cross at your own risk.

The city's seniors make up a third of the city's pedestrian fatalities, even though they represent only 13% of the population, according to a study released yesterday.

Part of the problem: There simply isn't enough "walk" time for the average senior citizen to make it across safely.

Most of the city's crosswalks require pedestrians to walk 4 feet per second to get across before the light changes, according to the Transportation Alternatives study. Yet most senior citizens walk at an average pace of 3 feet per second.

"The city must give seniors more time to cross the street," said Amy Pfeiffer, a director at Transportation Alternatives.

Joseph Chaboty, 75, of Washington Heights, agrees. "The light changes too quickly and you have to walk faster," he said after struggling to cross Broadway and St. Nicholas Ave. at 168th St., one of the intersections featured in the study.

He said he has stayed safe so far by being extra-careful and added that many of his friends say they face a similar problem.

Indeed, slow crossing time is the number-one complaint in AARP surveys, said Nelson Peralta, of the Columbia Center for the Active Life of Minority Elders.

"The crossing at 168th and Broadway is a nightmare I see every day," he said.

That intersection includes a monstrous crossing of 12 lanes and two medians. The walk signal lasts a mere 30 seconds, making striding across a challenge even for the young and the fit.

Amy Housen, 60, who suffers from heart and knee ailments, needed two signal cycles to complete the crossing, as did many other pedestrians observed yesterday.

"Sometimes, I have to hold the cars so they'd let me cross," she said, demonstrating a "stop" gesture with her hand.

Half a minute is also the allotted time at 177th St. and Broadway, another surveyed junction. It's only a six-lane stretch, but turning vehicles and no medians make it dangerous.

The study looked at six intersections in four neighborhoods with a high concentration of elders. It recommends increased crossing time, more "walk" phases free from turning traffic and more pedestrian medians in neighborhoods with a large senior population, such as Washington Heights and Coney Island.

Department of Transportation spokesman Tom Cocola did not dispute the findings. "They definitely have a point," he said. "We'll take their specific requirements under advisement."

But he pointed out that seniors' slower pace has been factored in at Queens Blvd., Ocean Parkway and other main roads. He also noted that the pedestrian fatality rate in the city is at a 90-year low.

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