Sunset Park residents, elected officials and pedestrian safety advocates are calling for the city to make safety improvements to a stretch of roadway where drivers have killed or seriously injured dozens of people in recent years.
“We need New York City and New York state to be part of the solution here,” Councilmember Alexa Aviles told supporters near the intersection of 60th Street and Third Avenue on Wednesday. “It's really important for everyone to understand that while traffic projects can be really politically hairy, we all want safety. Our families deserve safety.”
The renewed public outrage over pedestrian safety on Third Avenue came after two men were struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver on the thoroughfare near 52nd Street earlier this month.
Since 2018, 80 people have been killed or seriously injured by drivers on a two-mile stretch of Third Avenue in the neighborhood, according to statistics compiled by Transportation Alternatives.
A street redesign approved by the local community board in 2024 would add protected bike lanes and reduce traffic on the street; however, implementation has stalled under Mayor Eric Adams’ administration. A City Hall spokesperson said the Department of Transportation is gathering community feedback to determine what steps to take.
Third Avenue runs through Sunset Park underneath the elevated Gowanus Expressway. Drivers must share the roadways with large trucks, motorized scooters and other cars. At the same time, pedestrians have to cross nine lanes of traffic to make it across the roadway.
Many of the pedestrians who cross there are school children and their parents, Aviles said at a rally Wednesday calling for improvements to the intersection, noting the four schools within a block.
State Sen. Andrew Gounardes, a Democrat who represents the area, pointed to a traffic sign at the intersection he said the city put up last week that warned drivers to watch for pedestrians.
“We should all be offended. Angry. Insulted. That the response from our city to two deaths blocks away from here is a sign that says: ‘be careful,’” Gounardes said.
“This is not meant to be a highway. This is where people walk. This is where people live. This is where kids go to school,” he added.
Police identified the two men who were killed on July 11 as 80-year-old Kex Un Chen and 59-year-old Faqiu Lin. Investigators believe a 23-year-old driver was speeding down Third Avenue near 52nd Street at about 4:20 a.m. when he sped through a red light and crashed into the two men.
The driver, whom police identified as Juventino Anastacio Florentino, sped away after the crash, but was later arrested and charged with numerous crimes, including manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide.
George Cardona, who owns a tax business on Third Avenue near 61st Street, urged the city to enforce traffic laws along the roadway.
“When I was a kid, my mom used to send me out to the store to get milk,” he said. “You really can’t send kids out now to get milk.”
This story has been updated with a comment from a City Hall spokesperson.
