* This article was originally posted on the Design Trust for Public Space blog, "I Heart Public Space" in July 2007.
Every day, millions of New Yorkers step out of their cozy habitats, leave behind the security of their apartments and embark on a voyage - to work , to school, to meet a friend, to walk the dog, to run an errand. And for every commute, there is a different story, a comfortable routine, a habitually chosen path.
Past the bodega; say good morning to the Polish neighbors. Wait for a bus (hope one's coming soon); pack on to the bus with a hundred other strangers. Pour off the bus and into an busy intersection; take a chance - run out in front of a speeding transport truck - cross 8 lanes of traffic un-aided by pedestrian crosswalks; hope no one gets picked off by a delivery van as the crowd is divided into three packs on separate medians (little concrete islands of safety with cars whooshing by on either side) and breathe a sigh of relief at the entrance of the 7 train in Long Island City. Phew!! This is my commute, and the commute of my fellow Greenpointers who have shunned the G train in favor of the ease and speed of the B61 bus. We band together as a team of pedestrians each morning and take on the treacherous journey of crossing the intersection at the bottom of the Pulaski Bridge where Jackson Avenue, 11th Street, Hunter's Point Avenue and 49th Street converge at the gateway from Brooklyn to Queens.
Anyone who has taken this somewhat disorienting and dangerous but incredibly efficient route from Brooklyn to Midtown knows what I am talking about. Anyone that has ever driven by this intersection between 8 and 10 am has seen the phenomenon: pedestrians, in packs of 30-40, cutting across 8 lanes of traffic and disregarding the pedestrian cross walks that would add about 5-10 minutes to the commute in favor of a faster route to the train. If you haven't participated in this morning adventure, perhaps this map will provide a good simulation.
New York City is a pedestrian city. And as pedestrians, we partially depend on city planners and regulators to ensure our safety and security when walking the streets - but we must also make wise decisions when navigating the streets. Every morning, when I'm rushing to catch that 7 train, I fear for my safety, but I also know that I am disregarding the conventions in place to ensure my safe journey. Of the 35 or so passengers that unload every 7 minutes onto Jackson Avenue, usually only one or two opt for the slower, safer route, while the rest of us take on the guise of safety in numbers hope for the best.
While I take responsibility for my actions, at the same time each morning I ask myself, why hasn't the Department of Transportation (DOT) or the City done anything about this hazardous intersection and made a crosswalk that pedestrians will actually use? While I am sure that there are thousands of unsafe intersections like this one that remain unknown to city officials, this situation is particularly mind-boggling because the DOT safety vehicle parking lot is right there, on Jackson Avenue. More often than not, the parked cars that we're stepping out from behind are bright yellow vehicles, with DOT Safety clearly marked on the doors.
The situation became even more bizarre recently, when NYC traffic police were holding a week-long training session for new traffic police officers in this intersection. It was laughable to witness: hordes of pedestrians, defiantly jay walking across a busy intersection, wreaking havoc on traffic flow, while two dozen uniformed traffic police blatantly ignored the situation and continued to direct oncoming vehicles into the path of the pedestrians. Not a single cop made a motion to direct the pedestrians in the proper route.
I am sure that I am not the only one who is dumbfounded by this lack of infrastructure that exists in LIC to accommodate for the huge population surge happening in this community as a result of recent real estate developments. In 2006, the Design Trust published a book called Long Island City: Connecting the Arts, which addressed this very problem of pedestrian routes between local arts institutions in LIC. Ultimately, the project developed a strategy that called for unconventional urban planning tools, such as web- or telecom-based wayfinding, and underused public transportation such as bicycle sharing. But as none of these strategies are yet to be implemented by the city, one must wonder who is going to take on the task of connecting the pedestrian routes in LIC?