NYC On Road Toward 2nd Deadliest Traffic Year Under De Blasio

NEW YORK CITY — Mayor Bill de Blasio's signature "Vision Zero" anti-traffic death effort is at risk after a deadly start to 2021 on the city's roads, advocates warned.

Seventy New Yorkers died of traffic violence through the end of April — the most since 2014, according to city data highlighted by Transportation Alternatives.

The deaths put the city on pace to have the second-deadliest traffic year under de Blasio, who has declared street safety a priority.

Under de Blasio's watch there have been 1,000 New Yorkers who lost their lives on the city's streets, said Cory Epstein, a spokesperson for Transportation Alternatives. He said de Blasio needs to finish his eighth and final year by pushing forward proven safety measures such as protected bike lanes and car-free spaces.

"I think what it says is we know what works to keep streets safe, we need Mayor de Blasio to implement it,” he said.

New York City last week saw several high-profile traffic deaths.

Xing Lin, a 37-year-old father of two, was struck and killed by a car that plowed into an outdoor dining structure in Astoria.

And Anastasios Tsakos, an NYPD officer, was struck and killed on the Long Island Expressway by a woman accused of drunken driving.

Tsakos' funeral was held Tuesday and de Blasio planned to make remarks.

Those were two of 25 deaths in April alone, making it the deadliest April since de Blasio took office, data highlighted by Transportation Alternatives shows.

The lion's share of deaths were pedestrians, according to the data.

New York City last week saw several high-profile traffic deaths. In total, 43 pedestrians died in the span from Jan. 1 to April 30 — the deadliest stretch of time for pedestrians under de Blasio.

Safe streets advocates expressed frustration with de Blasio, who launched Vision Zero with their support when his administration began.

"It tears at our hearts to see the number of traffic fatalities reaching new records seven years later," Amy Cohen, who co-founded Families For Safe Streets, said in a statement. "Behind each number is a fellow New Yorker, and a family like my own that will live the rest of their life with the deep pain of loss. It is past time for Mayor de Blasio to turn anguish into action and build our streets for safety."

Action for the advocates under Transportation Alternatives' umbrella means protected bike lanes, car-free spaces and turning streets over to pedestrians, Epstein said. He said the group continues to push mayoral candidates to adopt its "NYC 25x25" platform — a challenge to convert 25 percent of the city's streets toward people-focused purposes by 2025.

Other statewide proposals include the Crash Victim Rights & Safety Act, a package of bills in the state Legislature. Epstein said one particular bill, which would lower the threshold for driving drunk to 0.05 percent blood-alcohol content, could curb the type of intoxicated driving that authorities said led to Tsakos' death.

Utah, when it implemented a 0.05 percent limit, saw fatalities drop 47 percent, Epstein said.