“This is Not Vision Zero,” Parents to Protest After Driver Kills Baby in Stroller. FSS, TransAlt say Mayor must move more quickly to fix dangerous streets

After a driver struck and killed 8-month-old Navraj Raju in a stroller
on Astoria Boulevard in Queens last week, a group of New Yorkers who
have lost loved ones in preventable crashes will rally at City Hall
with parents on Thursday evening, to say that sidewalks should never
be the site of traffic deaths and serious injuries, and Mayor de
Blasio must move more quickly to redesign streets that the City has
already identified as dangerous “Priority” locations.

“It’s devastating to hear that another parent has lost a child in
another sidewalk crash that could have been prevented,” said Sofia
Russo, who helped found Families for Safe Streets after her 4-year-old
daughter Ariel Russo was killed when a reckless driver struck her on
an Upper West Side sidewalk in 2013. “The sidewalk should be sacred
space. This is not Vision Zero. If the City is going to reach its
goal, Mayor de Blasio has to dedicate real resources to fix the most
dangerous streets in every community, and tell the public when those
safety improvements are expected to be complete.”

Since the beginning of 2015, 288 people have been killed in Vision
Zero Priority locations -- about two-thirds of all crash deaths.
Despite repeated pleas from the City Council and advocates, however,
the Mayor has not funded safety fixes for several of the more than 400
Priority corridors and intersections.

On Thursday evening, parents will walk together for Navraj Raju and
for 13-year-old Jazmine Marin, who was struck and killed by a driver
at Cross Bay Boulevard at 149th Avenue in Ozone Park October 24th.


WHAT: This is not Vision Zero: Parents Rally

WHERE: City Hall steps

WHEN: Thursday, November 3rd, 6 pm

WHO: Families for Safe Streets, Transportation Alternatives, City
Council Majority Leader Jimmy Van Bramer


Families for Safe Streets will remember all those killed of New York
City Streets during the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic
Victims, on Sunday, November 20th in City Hall Park.