Urgent action needed on Chelsea crossing

Volume One, Issue 21, February 6- 22, 2007

Another day, another pedestrian mowed down by a vehicle on Manhattan’s busy streets.

Unfortunately, that was the fate of 82-year-old Amelia Chimienti last week as she crossed what has arguably become one of the most dangerous intersections in Chelsea: 16th St. on the east side of Ninth Ave., across from Chelsea Market. The driver was making deliveries in a semi-truck, carrying cinderblocks and towing a cement-mixer on a large flat-bed. According to an eye-witness, he was in a hurry to make the yellow light when, moving north on Ninth Ave., he made a quick right turn and struck Chimienti, who lived a few streets away, leaving little of her corporeal structure intact.

Another eye-witness, who saw Chimienti get run over by the truck’s back tires, thought the driver may not have even known he hit her, since he proceeded slowly down 16th St. and stopped mid-block to make a delivery before the eye-witness tipped police to his identity. Given the speed at which the driver was purportedly moving and the height of his cab, the eye-witness’ claim seems plausible, if downright disturbing.

According to officers at the 10th Precinct, pedestrians on cross-walks have the right-of-way on New York City’s streets on green or yellow lights, and when no traffic light is present. If we are to believe the eye-witness account, given the yellow light, Chimienti was squarely within her right to cross when she was killed.

The intersection at Ninth Ave. and 16th St. (along with several nearby) has long been considered a problem by residents and community activists alike, prompting a slew of city agencies and groups to do traffic and pedestrian-safety studies of the area. These include the Departments of Transportation and City Planning, C.B. 4’s Transportation Committee, the Council of Chelsea Block Associations, and the Greater Gansevoort Urban Improvement Project in concert with the Regional Plan Association.

This summer, Transportation informed C.B. 4 that it was committed to making Ninth Ave. one-way southbound through this dangerous corridor, which now features two northbound lanes between 14th and 16th Sts. — left over from when the Port Authority building loading docks were in use — and four oncoming southbound lanes north of 16th St., causing confusion for even the most perceptive pedestrians. Other issues to be examined in front of Chelsea market include crossing distances and signal timing.

Transportation, City Planning and G.G.U.I.P. are in the process of collecting and analyzing data not only for this corridor but for all of the Meatpacking District, and sections of West Chelsea where residential development is booming. Recommendations are due by the end of the summer. While we applaud their efforts, the pace of the proceedings is frustrating, considering that C.B. 4 first passed a full-board resolution asking for Ninth Ave. to become one-way southbound back in January 2005.

With the district now safely considered a destination, auto and pedestrian traffic at an all-time high, and senseless deaths like Chimienti’s not likely to decrease, now is the time for action on this most urgent pedestrian-safety matter.