A Safer Steinway St. in Queens

BY JASMINE PERALTA

City Councilman Costa Constantinides and DOT Queens Commissioner Nicole Garcia announced on Thursday the opening of three mid-block pedestrian crossings on Steinway Street in Queens, hoping to increase safety in the traffic clogged area.

In 2017  Constantinides launched a study of the area see how the area could be made into a safer after an increase in traffic incidents and neighborhood complaints.

“Steinway Street is the commercial beating heart of this community for as long as anyone can remember the name Astoria,” he told reporters in a news briefing on the street.

Constaninides echoed the concerns and complaints from shoppers and residents  about the dangers they face to save time crossing the street.

Since Steinway Street is a commercial avenue during the day and a club scene at night, the mid-block crosswalks were designed to decrease the number of hit-and-run accidents of pedestrians who tended to cross mid-street to save time.

In a report by DNAinfo, in 2016, 38 people- including 11 pedestrians were injured in traffic incidents along the area of Steinway Street. One incident was reported as a hit-and-run leaving a 45-year-old man dead, in the intersection of 30^th road and 21^st street.

“It’s four-tenths of a mile from one traffic light to another,” said Constantinides.

In the coming weeks, the three-new mid-block crosswalks will be located from Steinway street through Broadway and 31^st street.

Constantinides and Garcia, both Astoria natives, called the move only ‘phase one’, in making Steinway street safer.

Photo of Councilman Constantinides by Jasmine Peralta