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Back in April, CB3 member Chad Marlow, and the group that he founded in 2011, the Tompkins Square Park & Playground Parents’ Association (TSP3A), kicked off a neighborhood safety initiative.
The group applied to the Department of Transportation (DOT) to have them create what the group is calling the "Tompkins Square/Alphabet City Slow Zone" (TSACSZ).
The TSACSZ, in short, is an effort to improve pedestrian safety for children and all others who live/work/play in the proposed 0.38 square-mile zone by reducing motor vehicle speeds. Per Marlow, the slow zone program takes a well-defined, relatively compact area, and reduces its speed limit from 30 miles per hour to 20 miles per hour, with further reductions to 15 miles per hour near schools.
In an op-ed in The Villager last spring, Marlow also revealed a personal reason behind this proposal. In 1995, a drunken driver struck Marlow's father, an accident that left him with quadriplegia and a severe brain injury. His father died 13 years after the accident. (Read the entire op-ed here.)
We asked Marlow via email for his reaction to the DOT's decision:
"I am beyond grateful to the Department of Transportation for approving the Tompkins Square/Alphabet City Slow Zone. I am equally filled with gratitude for all of the community groups, elected officials and members of Community Board 3, whose support for the proposal was instrumental in making it a reality. Most of all, I find myself thinking of my father, Richard Marlow, and how something positive has finally come out of the years of terrible pain and suffering he endured after being hit by a speeding, drunk driver in 1995. I dedicate this effort to his memory."
Previously on EV Grieve:
Call for an East Village 'slow zone' (34 comments)
19 comments:
Thank you, Mr. Marlowe. Much-needed improvement. I see idiots practically drag racing down Avenue B on a daily basis.
But how will enforcement be handled if the state leg won't let us put up speed cameras? NYPD seems to view dangerous driving more as a human right than a crime.
This is good news, but I wonder for how many people this is the last straw that will lead them to leave the East Village?
Now can we please stop diesel trucks from being allowed to drive on Allen Street?
I live right by that big yellow dot at 10th and C. People FLY though that intersection going east, and most don't realize there's a big dip in the middle of the intersection. Trucks are constantly bottoming out there. I'm curious to see if this does anything to help that.
Anon @ 1:18: Thanks for your kind words. The slow zone employs numerous traffic calming measures (like speed humps) that are designed to slow down traffic without active enforcement (NYPD enforcement would be good too!), so the slow zone will be effective even without speed cameras. That being said, WITH speed cameras would be even better!
Minimal worth unless you include the out-of-cntrol bicyclists. While you will be crossing the street lulled into a false sense of security the lunatics on wheels will knock you over (and in most cases) take off.
This is great! Let's expand this to the entire city please. This city is not a race course.
- East Villager
OWR - How many times were you crossing the street with a "Don't Walk" staring you right in the face? Or did you not even notice?
This is the best news in a while. Thanks NYC for doing the right thing, and to Chad Marlow!
I live in this zone and ride my bike daily and have been nearly killed numerous times. Enforcement will be key, but thank you for getting this passed!
Some people do drive fast but I've seen just as many cyclists driving recklessly. They'll drive in the center lanes of 1st Avenue between cars racing in & out of traffic.
It's great news that speed is being limited somewhere at least but without consistent enforcement it will be less useful than it should be.
Red light / speed cameras can be useful but they will do nothing to keep a drunk driver from running someone over. Police on the street who can stop him before he kills, arrest him for drunk driving, reckless driving, etc., and get him off the streets, can save lives.
And one more thing about those cameras: they can get a ticket mailed to the vehicle's registered owner but they do not result in points being added to the driver's license. As such, they are less of a deterrent than a cop who can write a citation that results in points on the driver's license.
Interesting how the bigger yellow dots are near very congested weekend party spots. we all know Av A on party nights is a nightmare. I always drive very slowly and still feel like i'm in a crazy video game with bikers and stumbling pedestrians jumping out at me willy nilly. the streets are soooo packed!
Accidents between bicyclists and pedestrians are very rare. "Reckless" bicyclists are no more dangerous than jaywalkers. Attempts to suggest otherwise are not based in reality The real problem is speeding reckless drivers who seem never to face enforcement even when they hit people.
Mr Marlow, thank you for your tireless advocacy on this issue. It's a beautiful tribute to your father and us neighbors are very grateful.
Now, hopefully the new NYPD commissioner under De Blasio can set a different tone for the department. Street safety MUST become a priority, but I doubt we'll see any improvement towards punishing speeding or reckless drivers.
Now, if they can only designate this also as a no "Woo" zone.
" . . . the last straw that will lead them to leave the East Village? "
More likely, I think, more people will think it's the last straw to stay. Not many, no, but a few.
Remember when a car plowed through the Sunday farmer's market a few years ago? We should have less of that, I hope.
Thanks, Mr. Marlow.
This just in... Community Board 3 and Susan Stetzer have announced they have suspended Chad Marlow for three months because he is creating a shadow community board and took matters into his own hands.
Anon @ 8:38. Thank you for your very kind words. They really meant a lot to me.
TOO FUNNY.
BUT PROBABLY WILL HAPPEN:
" October 12, 2013 at 3:15 AM
Anonymous said...
This just in... Community Board 3 and Susan Stetzer have announced they have suspended Chad Marlow for three months because he is creating a shadow community board and took matters into his own hands."
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