Flatbush to Midwood: Cross at Your Own Risk

AD 42: Jan 1, 2022 - Aug 26, 2025

Flatbush to Midwood bleeds. Since 2022, Assembly District 42 has seen 10 people killed and 2,276 injured on its streets, most of them outside a car, including 500 pedestrians and 247 cyclists (NYC Open Data). Trucks and buses killed as well, with heavy vehicles tied to 3 pedestrian deaths (NYC Open Data).

The corners that don’t forgive

• Flatbush Avenue tops the list: 1 death, 143 injuries, 6 serious injuries. Nostrand Avenue isn’t far behind with 82 injuries. Foster Avenue adds another death to the toll. These are not black spots on a map. They are crosswalks where people fall (small‑area stats via NYC Open Data).
• Daylight fades and the body count climbs. The worst hours sit at the evening commute: 5 pm through 8 pm brings the most injuries and many of the deaths, with the single highest at 6 pm, then 5 pm and 7 pm close behind (hourly distribution via NYC Open Data).

Nearly half of city fatalities happen in intersections. DOT says it will harden corners with granite, concrete, and planters to clear sightlines, starting at high‑crash Brooklyn sites. “Using barriers to clear space at the intersection will help ensure pedestrians, cyclists and turning vehicles can see each other,” said Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez (The Brooklyn Paper; Streetsblog NYC).

Names behind the numbers

• March 7, 2024. A New Jersey dump truck turned right at Tilden and Bedford. A 58‑year‑old woman, crossing with the signal, was struck and killed. Police data cite failure to yield and an oversized vehicle (crash 4707890).
• April 16, 2024. Avenue D and New York Avenue. A 74‑year‑old woman, crossing with the signal, was killed by a turning sedan. The listed cause: failure to yield (crash 4717810).
• December 31, 2024. Caton and Flatbush. A 64‑year‑old man was struck by an Audi sedan off the corner and died at the scene (crash 4783016).

April 9, 2025. Bedford and Farragut. A school bus jumped the curb and hit a woman and an 8‑year‑old boy. “Hit the gas instead of the brakes,” the driver told police. The child’s arm broke. They lived. “We do know we need more traffic safety in this area,” said Council Member Farah Louis (ABC7; CBS New York).

What keeps killing here

The small‑area data name the killers: “other” factors top the chart, but one code repeats in the dead—failure to yield at turns. Pedestrians account for 7 of the 10 deaths in this district. Cyclists for 2. Heavy vehicles show up in the worst outcomes (small‑area stats).

DOT now promises hardened daylighting at dangerous corners in Brooklyn. Advocates call it a start and want more, faster. “Anything with real (not plastic) infrastructure in street corners is good news,” said Jon Orcutt. “We’d love to see some simpler hardening at a quicker pace,” said Jackson Chabot (Streetsblog NYC).

Fix the corners. Slow the turns. Cut the speed.

Local steps this district can take now:

• Hardened daylighting and concrete at corners on Flatbush, Nostrand, and Foster. DOT says it’s coming; hold them to it (The Brooklyn Paper).
• Left‑turn protection and slower signal timing at the intersections with repeated turning deaths (failure‑to‑yield crashes in the data; NYC Open Data).
• Truck routing and enforcement on Tilden and Bedford, where a dump truck killed a woman in the crosswalk (crash 4707890).

Citywide steps that end the pattern:

• The Council can set safer speeds under Sammy’s Law. A 20 mph default saves lives. Our Take Action page has the script.
• Albany has a bill to force repeat speeders to install speed limiters (Stop Super Speeders). Call your reps. It targets the tiny group that does outsized harm (Streetsblog NYC).

The ask

Ten dead in three years and eight months. Most at our corners. The fixes are on paper. The bodies are on the ground. Tell City Hall to lower speeds and harden the turns. Start here: take action.