A friend of the 12-year-old girl told Gothamist: "We were crossing the street and the light changed real quick. She started going, and then she stopped, but she tripped. The van hit her twice. The first time it hit her, then when it stopped and realized that it hit her, it hit her again."
The driver of the van has not been charged. As DNAinfo put it, "no criminality" is suspected.
Updated 6:19 p.m.
Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer just released a statement:
Tonight, New York City mourns the senseless death of a sixth grade girl who lost her life while crossing Delancey Street today. This devastating loss is only the latest in a string of tragic accidents that have occurred on Delancey - numbering into the hundreds over the past decade. In both May and August of last year, New Yorkers lost their life navigating this intersection. Between 2008 and 2010, 523 motor vehicle accidents occurred at Delancey and Essex.
The City must act now and not wait a second longer. We can no longer go about its daily business with the knowledge that one of our central intersections is irrefutably perilous.
Updated 1/14:
The dailies provide more details on the tragedy. The victim is 12-year-old Dashane Santana who lived in the Jacob Riis Houses. The girl's mother told the Post that her daughter dropped a bookbag while crossing Delancey Street. When she turned to pick it up, the minivan hit her. She was with friends on her way to Dunkin' Donuts.
The Post also reported that Dashane had just applied to Juilliard.
Earlier reports:
Gothamist
DNAinfo
The Lo-Down
BoweryBoogie
[Image: Christopher Robbins/Gothamist]
14 comments:
The DOT spent tons of money to build that stupid fucking wall to slow down bikes but nothing was done to slow down the cars that barrel down Delancey and off the bridge and so frequently kill pedestrians.
EVERY intersection on Delancey is dangerous! IT'S ENOUGH ALREADY!!
Are they still allowing cars to drive down Delancey in the *opposite* direction during morning rush to alleviate traffic? Great for cars, not so much for unsuspecting pedestrians who neglect to look right before crossing. Stupid DOT.
Obviously I wasn't there but this is confusing. The girl's trying to cross the street. The cars are stopped at the light. Shes misjudged the timing, stops 1/2 way across unsure whether to continue or go back; The cars maybe start to roll forward. Obviously they can see her in the middle of the intersection. She falls over. And the drivers are not smart enough to stop!?!?
and Scott Stringer says: "The City must act now and not wait a second longer". Wow Scott, and since when are YOU not the city? You are Borough Pres.- and you have obviously known about this danger...so stop playing the 'government outsider' on this one...
A bit opportunistic, I would say...are you running for something?
This is incredibly sad. My heart goes out to the family and friends of this young lady, and I think what makes it even worse is the utter senselessness of her death. The city has known for years that this is one of the most dangerous intersections in the borough for pedestrians and bikers. It has gotten extensive press coverage. And while the city has taken some extremely limited steps to enhance safety (the stupid fence thing, which really does nothing) they have failed to address the fundamental problem, that cars are going extremely quickly along a road that has 8? 9? 10? lanes with confusing and distracting driving conditions with basically no distance between people and cars. The city needs to take action immediately. How many people need to be killed here before they do something about it?
I used to live right off of Delancey on Clinton. I was SO scared to cross Delancey no matter where it was. Those lights don't stay green long enough for anyone to safely cross. It's just ridiculous. I'm honestly surprised that there aren't even more stories like this.
My heart is with Dashane's family. She was a beautiful young lady with so much promise. This is incredibly sad.
This is so upsetting. My condolences to Dashane's family and friends - truly heart-breaking.
This intersection is extremely dangerous. I feel I'm taking my life into my own hands when ever I cross. Why no pedestrian bridge??
My heart goes out to this family. Words cant express how horrible and senseless this accident is. Crossing Delancy is super dangerous. I walk very fast and I can't even make it across Delancy in one light. At that particular spot she had about 15 seconds to cross 10 lanes of traffic. Maybe the director of the DOT, Janette Sadik-Khan, should spend more time dealing with existing infrastructure than with her vanity projects (bike lanes & pedestrian malls).
They spend all this money on the bike lanes that no one really asked for and a little kid gets run over even though the community had voiced concerns of safety on Delancey! Janette Sadik Khan should be proud of herself.
Commenters: Bike lanes reduce car accidents. Like, every damn place they've been put in in NYC. Learn a fact or two before you condemn a change to our 1950s streetscape that actually makes YOU and everyone else safer.
ddartley, you lazily address "commenters," but should be specific about whom you are talking to. Quite frankly it is disgusting how you have used this young lady's death as a platform for your pro-bike-lane lecture/speechifying.
That is the worst intersection ever. I run when that light says walk. The light there only last about ten seconds just to get only halfway across the street and it seems like the DOT has yet to change it.
Post a Comment