INWOOD — West 207th Street is home to the neighborhood's three most collision-prone intersections, according to an analysis of NYPD collision data.
The busy crosstown corridor also has some of the most dangerous pedestrian crossings in the 10034 zip code, statistics shows, with a pedestrian killed and another seriously injured crossing the thoroughfare last week.
The intersection of West 207th Street and Ninth Avenue was the neighborhood’s worst in terms of car accidents — with 117 collisions reported there between July 2012 and June 14, 2015, the most recent dates for which data was available. Of the 36 people injured in those incidents, five of them were pedestrians.
Just last week, a man was killed and another seriously injured after the pair crossed 207th Street mid-block between Ninth and 10th avenues and were struck by two cars. The drivers stayed on the scene and there were no immediate arrests, police said.
West 207th Street and Broadway was almost as dangerous, with 93 collisions reported over the nearly three-year period. It was also the neighborhood’s most dangerous crossing for pedestrians, with 12 injured there during the same time frame.
West 207th Street and 10th Avenue was the next-most-dangerous intersection, with 14 people injured in 82 collisions at the corner, the data showed. Four of those injured were pedestrians.
While not in the top three intersections for total collisions, West 207th Street and Sherman Avenue was notable because seven pedestrians were injured there during the three-year period.
Only the intersections of West 207th Street and Broadway, and Dyckman Street and Broadway were worse in terms of pedestrian injuries. However, the Dyckman Street intersection was redesigned in the spring of 2014 in order to increase pedestrian safety at the crossing.
Chelsea Perdomo, 23, waits for the bus on 207th Street near 10th Avenue at least twice a week. She said she has noticed vehicles speeding on the section of the street that leads to the 207th Street Bridge, which crosses into the Bronx and also connects cars to I-87.
“The highway is right there next to the bridge, so people come racing down here,” she said.
In addition, Perdomo said that many drivers have dangerous habits.
“They don’t let people cross. They cut people off,” she said. “They get in the bus lanes, which throws everybody off. ”
Ina Percival, 24, who works at a furniture store on 207th Street between Ninth and 10th avenues, said she was almost hit by a car as it turned from 207th Street onto 10th Avenue recently.
“I was crossing this street here,” Percival said. “The light was for me, but a guy was turning so fast [from 207th] that I had to stop.”
Percival said double-parking is also a major problem on the section of 207th Street that stretches from 10th Avenue to Broadway.
There is only one eastbound lane in that section, so cars are forced to cut into oncoming traffic to move around double-parked vehicles.
“All the cars crossing and double-parking,” she said. “It gets busy on that street.”
After last week's fatal incident, some Uptown residents are hoping 207th Street will be redesigned with safety in mind.
“That intersection is actually quite scary and incredibly dangerous for pedestrians crossing,” Eric Adler wrote in a community Facebook group of 207th Street and Ninth Avenue. “Hopefully the DOT will take notice.”
A commenter in another community group agreed.
“207th Street needs a traffic study,” David Alan wrote.
City Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez, who chairs the council’s transportation committee, had previously asked the Department of Transportation to study the intersection of West 207th Street and Broadway because of the large number of pedestrian incidents there, said spokesman Lucas Acosta.
After the June 17 collision, Rodriguez called on the DOT to expand that study to include the entire corridor, Acosta said.
“I am deeply saddened by the news that two men in my district were struck by multiple vehicles on 207th and 9th avenue,” Rodriguez said in a statement. “That is why I am working closely with the Department of Transportation to making lasting change on the 207th street corridor and end avoidable pedestrian crashes.”
The DOT did not respond to a request for comment.
