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.
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