Crackdown on Queens road boosts safety: cops

Cops in Queens cracked down on one of the borough’s most dangerous roads this month, a move they say made the street safer.

The initiative focused on busy Northern Blvd., where 14 people have been killed in car crashes since the start of 2016.

Over a two-week ticket blitz from March 4 to March 17, police issued 3,300 parking summonses, 2,400 moving violations and 660 Criminal Court summonses and towed more than 300 illegally parked cars.

The crackdown was centered at Northern and Parsons Blvds., an intersection where seven pedestrians were hit by cars last year.

The crackdown correlated with a 24% drop in car accidents from the corresponding period in 2018.

Fewer pedestrians were also nailed by automobiles during the blitz — three people were pinged across the corridor versus seven last year.

Cops also launched an outreach campaign to discourage dangerous driving on the street. The effort included flyers and road signs to remind drivers to slow down.

City officials hope to improve safety along Northern Blvd. similar to the way they did on Queens Blvd., which was once dubbed the Boulevard of Death. In December, that notorious stretch of street suffered its first bike or pedestrian fatality since 2014.

Much of the improvement on Queens Blvd. can be chalked up to additional infrastructure like safer pedestrian crossings and protected bike lanes, which in 2017 sparked outrage among some members of Queens Community Board 11.

Advocates say Northern Blvd. needs the same kind of treatment if officials want it to become the same kind of success story as Queens Blvd.

“What Northern Blvd. really needs is a wholesale redesign that puts safety first,” said Transportation Alternatives spokesman Joe Cutrufo.