Struck down near school
Qns. girl dies, pal also run over
21/2-mile stretch from Woodhaven Blvd. to the nearby Joseph P. Addabbo Bridge between 2009 and 2013, records show.
The 55-year-old sedan driver, who was not identified, remained at the scene. He likely won’t face charges, police sources said.
Jazmine’s grandmother, Luz Marin, said the teenager had dreams of becoming an artist.
“She was my love. She was the apple of my eye. That girl was everything to me,” she said. “She loved to draw.”
Emergency responders rushed both girls to Jamaica Hospital, where Jazmine, who suffered serious head trauma, died from her injuries. The other victim, who police did not identify, was listed in stable condition with a leg injury.
Marin said her son, Geo Marin, a widower, was devastated by his daughter’s tragic death.
A neighbor and close family friend said the doting dad usually brought Jazmine to school every day and picked her up.
“She was smart, always happy, always got a book, always plays with my granddaughters,” said Luis Colon, 66, who lives next to Jazmine’s Queens home.
Jazmine’s mother died several years ago, and she was an only child, he added.
The family was from Colombia, but Jazmine was born here, he said. She and her dad shared a special bond, Colon noted.
“He took her everywhere he went. Her father is very good. Very close with her father,” he said.
“Her mother died about six, seven years ago,” Colon said, as he began to cry. “That’s the only child he got.”
The teens were on their way to Robert H. Goddard Middle School — about two blocks from the crash.
“I am deeply saddened by this tragic loss, and my heartfelt condolences are with the student’s family and the entire school community during this very difficult time,” Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña said in a statement.
The last pedestrian fatality at Cross Bay Blvd. took place near 149th St. as well, in 2012.
Jazmine was the 114th pedestrian fatality citywide as of Monday. That’s compared to 96 pedestrians and 14 cyclists who died in traffic incidents over the same period last year.
The DOT lowered speeds on the boulevard by 10 mph to 30 mph in June 2015, but all its safety upgrades are planned for 2017, officials said. “We’ve seen time and again this year innocent pedestrians dying . . . because too many New York City streets are inherently dangerous,” said Paul Steely White, head of Transportation Alternatives.
He blamed Blasio for not funding the necessary changes.
“My heart is destroyed,” Lilliana Marin, the victim’s aunt, said in a Facebook post. “Why did you leave us my beautiful angel. I love you Jaz. I love you.” PERHAPS THE PEOPLE behind Vision Zero didn’t think clearly enough about this flyer. In a street safety poster (below) with tips on keeping kids safe while walking the streets, the city offers advice on crossing midblock — instead of only using the crosswalk. The Department of Transportation also produced a kid-friendly rap video about Vision Zero — “Cross This Way” — in 2014 that shows a skateboarding kid cruising across a one-way street in the middle of the block, forcing a car to stop short. In the flyer and the video, the message is the same — kids crossing in the middle of a block should stop at the row of parked cars, look both ways and wait until the street is clear. Paul Steely White, of Transportation Alternatives, said the DOT needs to focus on fixing streets to make them less dangerous, not lecturing kids about ways to avoid getting hit. “The only time the DOT should be telling kids to cross midblock is when they are also installing a safe, midblock crosswalk,” White said. DOT spokesman Scott Gastel said the safety education programming doesn’t encourage crossing midblock, but offers “advice on the safest ways in which to handle a midblock situation.”