This page shows side‑by‑side drafts generated using the modular reporter prompts.

Source summary: tmp/experiments_runs/reporter-variants-3/summary.json

Variant Summary (averages)

VariantAvg Score (1–10)Poignancy PassAvg Cost
default6.03/3 (100%)$0.06
editor_best6.33/3 (100%)$0.06
freeform_arc_streetsblog6.03/3 (100%)$0.06
nytimes_style6.73/3 (100%)$0.07

Detailed Runs

GeoVariantTitleWordsQuotesLinksUnmatched DomainsAuto PassPoignancyEditor Score (1–10)Cost
citywide-nycdefaultNew York City: Queens and Brooklyn break under the wheel746000❌✅7.0$0.06
citywide-nyceditor_bestNew York City: 30 a.m.633000❌✅6.0$0.06
citywide-nycnytimes_styleNew York City: Bodies on the margin, numbers in the dark732000❌✅6.0$0.06
citywide-nycfreeform_arc_streetsblogNew York City: 30 a.m. at South Conduit. A man crossed. A driver hit him and fled.451000❌✅5.0$0.06
council-39defaultOcean Parkway, the BQE, and the park roads: four dead, 589 hurt in Council District 39494000❌✅6.0$0.07
council-39editor_bestFour dead since 2022. The hits don’t stop on District 39’s streets.798000❌✅6.0$0.07
council-39nytimes_styleDistrict 39: a rider dies, and the count climbs714000❌✅7.0$0.07
council-39freeform_arc_streetsblogFour Dead Since 2022 in District 39. The Pattern Doesn’t Let Up.723000❌✅6.0$0.07
senate-23defaultSD 23: A bus, a turn, a body on the pavement669000❌✅5.0$0.07
senate-23editor_bestSD 23: 12 p.m. A K‑turn. A rider down.663000❌✅7.0$0.06
senate-23nytimes_styleSD 23: Five dead, 1,259 hurt. The clock keeps ticking.610000❌✅7.0$0.07
senate-23freeform_arc_streetsblogSD 23: Five deaths. 1,259 hurt. Staten Island and South Brooklyn keep bleeding.494000❌✅7.0$0.07

default

New York City: Queens and Brooklyn break under the wheel

Two men stood at a food cart in Astoria. A Toyota came fast. It left the roadway and hit the truck. The men died there. The driver died too. Police said the 84-year-old had suffered a stroke two weeks earlier and was told not to drive, according to amNY. “I have never seen anything like this,” an eyewitness told the paper. CBS said the car “slammed into the men” as they ordered food at the truck in Queens. Two pedestrians and the driver were killed, reported CBS New York.

A mile from JFK, a driver hit a 52‑year‑old man at 155th Street and South Conduit Avenue at 2:30 a.m. The driver fled. Detectives from the Collision Investigation Squad took the case, said Gothamist. City data lists the man as a pedestrian killed there that night (NYC Open Data).

In Brooklyn, Ocean Parkway met Avenue C. A southbound Toyota SUV merged and struck a 45‑year‑old woman who was crossing with no signal or crosswalk. She died of crush injuries to the head, the city’s crash log shows (NYC Open Data).

Queens food cart, three dead

Police told reporters the Astoria crash killed 41‑year‑old Joaquin Venancio‑Mendez and 70‑year‑old Santiago Baires. The 84‑year‑old driver also died, according to amNY’s report. CBS said witnesses described a speeding car that “slammed into the men” at the truck (CBS New York).

The street filled with debris. Names moved to the ledger. The truck went cold.

By JFK, a body and a missing driver

The hit came at 155th and South Conduit before dawn. The man was taken to Jamaica Hospital and pronounced dead, said Gothamist. The driver kept going. The city’s database records a pedestrian killed there at that time (NYC Open Data).

No arrest is listed in the data. Only the time. The place. One more crosswalk left empty.

Ocean Parkway, another strike

The SUV’s point of impact was the center front. The woman’s injury was listed as crush injuries. Death at the scene, the log says. Location: Ocean Parkway at Avenue C. Vehicle: Toyota SUV, 2023. Movement: merging. Action listed for the pedestrian: crossing, no signal, or crosswalk (NYC Open Data).

Three lines. Three families.

The pattern does not stop

Elsewhere, a Queens driver went the wrong way down the Clearview Expressway and hit five cars. “Joseph Lee terrorized other drivers as he purposefully drove the wrong way,” said Queens DA Melinda Katz, after he was sentenced to eight years (amNY). “Two motorists were badly hurt and still have not fully recovered,” she said. Lee told police: “I entered the Clearview Expressway in the wrong direction because I wanted to hurt people and I felt ‘liberated’ by what I had done.” He also said, “You want to fight?” (amNY).

Citywide, 182 people have been killed on our streets in this coverage period, with 32,764 injured. SUVs and cars account for most pedestrian deaths and injuries in the dataset (NYC Open Data).

Power picks winners. The street takes the rest.

Prosecutors say a top City Hall aide meddled with a protected bike‑lane plan on McGuinness Boulevard after getting perks from power brokers. The case is now in court. The reporting ties that interference to a redesign on a corridor where a teacher was killed in 2021 (Gothamist).

Decisions made far from the curb. Bodies left on it.

What we owe the living

Lower speeds save lives. New York now has the power to set safer limits. Habitual speeders need hard stops.

If you want fewer names in the log, tell City Hall what must change. Ask for a 20 mph default and speed limiters for repeat offenders. Start here: /take_action/.

FAQ

  • Q: Where did these recent deaths happen? A: Astoria (two pedestrians and the driver at a food truck), near JFK at 155th Street and South Conduit Avenue (a 52-year-old pedestrian in a hit-and-run), and on Ocean Parkway at Avenue C (a 45-year-old woman struck while crossing). Sources: CBS New York; amNY; Gothamist; NYC Open Data.
  • Q: Did police release details in the JFK case? A: Gothamist reported the driver fled after striking the 52-year-old man at 2:30 a.m., and that the Collision Investigation Squad is investigating. The city crash database records the fatality at that time and place.
  • Q: What did officials say about the Clearview wrong-way case? A: Queens DA Melinda Katz said, “Joseph Lee terrorized other drivers,” and noted two motorists were badly hurt and still recovering. Lee told police he drove the wrong way to hurt people and felt “liberated.” Source: amNY.
  • Q: How many people were killed citywide in this period? A: According to NYC Open Data compiled for this coverage window, 182 people were killed and 32,764 were injured.
  • Q: What is CrashCount? A: We’re a tool for helping hold local politicians and other actors accountable for their failure to protect you when you’re walking or cycling in NYC. We update our site constantly to provide you with up to date information on what’s happening in your neighborhood.

Citations

Geo: citywide-nyc

Editor Evaluation

  • Overall score: 7
  • Poignancy: ✅ — Spare details, no melodrama, lands with sober hope via concrete policy. Generally restrained.
  • Persuasiveness: ✅ — Strong urgency and clear CTA; ties incidents to citywide fixes. Limited explicit framing for pedestrians/cyclists beyond incidents; could foreground vulnerable users earlier.
  • Interest: ✅ — High immediacy and scene work; varied cases keep pace. Some repetition and an aside about Clearview may feel off-thread.
  • Writing quality: ✅ — Voice is muscular and spare with vivid, concrete detail. Subheads present and punchy. A few lines verge on editorial (“Power picks winners”).
  • Trustworthiness: ❌ — Multiple attributed quotes from cited outlets. Potential issues: specific names/ages and medical history (84-year-old told not to drive; victims’ names) rely on amNY—acceptable if present there; the citywide totals (182 killed, 32,764 inju…
  • Recommendations:
    • Constrain all quantified totals to an explicitly cited, reproducible filter. Add a brief parenthetical clause describing the filter in-body and include a link anchor to the exact query or dataset view in citations.links.
    • Require a quotes audit step: only include quotes that are verbatim and clearly attributed with inline links; if fewer than three credible quotes exist, skip reaching for color. Avoid paraphrase like “CBS said the car ‘slammed…’” unless tha…
    • Ban interpretive or metaphorical lines that add meaning beyond data (e.g., “Power picks winners,” “Names moved to the ledger”). Replace with concrete, sourced facts or leave blank space. Add a prompt check: ‘Delete any sentence that would …

editor_best

New York City: 30 a.m.

At 2:30 a.m. at 155th Street and South Conduit Avenue, a driver hit a 52‑year‑old man and fled the scene in Springfield Gardens. Police said he died at Jamaica Hospital. Gothamist.

They were one of 182 people killed on New York City streets since Jan. 1, 2022, alongside 32,764 injured and 491 seriously hurt in that period. NYC Open Data.

Speed, impact, and a body count

In the last 12 months alone, NYC logged the same grim tally: 182 deaths, 32,764 injuries, 491 serious injuries. NYC Open Data.

Pedestrians keep taking the blow. Collisions involving SUVs accounted for 41 pedestrian deaths; sedans for 15. NYC Open Data.

Queens South is hurting. NYPD data cited in local reporting counted 17 traffic deaths there through Aug. 10. Gothamist.

A system that keeps letting it happen

On Jan. 18, 2023, a man drove the wrong way on the Clearview Expressway and hit car after car. A jury convicted him. The DA put it plain: “Joseph Lee terrorized other drivers as he purposefully drove the wrong way on a busy Queens highway and crashed into multiple cars.” amNY.

The next summer morning in Astoria, an 84‑year‑old driver went fast, left the roadway, and struck two men at a food cart. All three died, police said. amNY and CBS New York.

Another night in the Bronx, a 44‑year‑old woman listed as “not in roadway” was killed by a distracted driver at Macombs Road and West 174th Street. The NYPD coded the cause as driver inattention. NYC Open Data CrashID 4833327.

Power, pressure, and a narrowed lane

Prosecutors say a former top City Hall adviser meddled in a McGuinness Boulevard redesign that would have added protected bike lanes, while taking money and favors. She has pleaded not guilty. The mayor defended her. Gothamist and Gothamist.

Redesigns save lives when they are allowed to happen. The fight over McGuinness shows how safety can be stalled. Gothamist.

The fixes are on the table

The city now has the power to lower speeds on residential streets. Advocates are pressing for a default 20 mph limit citywide. Take action.

A small group of drivers does outsized harm. The Stop Super Speeders Act would require intelligent speed limiters for repeat offenders who rack up tickets or DMV points. Take action.

Lower the limits. Rein in the worst drivers. Do it before the next siren.

—

Data methods: We used NYC Open Data’s Motor Vehicle Collisions datasets — Crashes (h9gi-nx95), Persons (f55k-p6yu), and Vehicles (bm4k-52h4) — filtered for New York City from 2022‑01‑01 to 2025‑08‑25. We cited totals for deaths, injuries, and serious injuries from this window, and pedestrian outcomes by vehicle type from the Persons table. The hit‑and‑run vignette details come from contemporaneous local reporting; the Bronx fatality details come from CrashID 4833327. Data accessed Aug. 25, 2025. Reproduce via the Crashes, Persons, and Vehicles tables.

FAQ

  • Q: What happened at 155th Street and South Conduit Avenue? A: Police said a driver struck a 52‑year‑old man around 2:30 a.m. in Springfield Gardens and fled. The man was taken to Jamaica Hospital and pronounced dead. Source: Gothamist, Aug. 13, 2025.
  • Q: How many people have been killed on NYC streets in this period? A: From Jan. 1, 2022, to Aug. 25, 2025, NYC recorded 182 traffic deaths, 32,764 injuries, and 491 serious injuries, per NYC Open Data (Crashes/Persons tables).
  • Q: Which vehicles are most often involved in deadly pedestrian crashes? A: From the Persons table in NYC Open Data, pedestrian deaths in this window involved SUVs (41) and sedans (15) most frequently among coded vehicle types.
  • Q: What policies could reduce these deaths right now? A: Lower the citywide default speed limit to 20 mph and mandate speed limiters for repeat speeders, as outlined in our action guide at /take_action/.
  • Q: What is CrashCount? A: We’re a tool for helping hold local politicians and other actors accountable for their failure to protect you when you’re walking or cycling in NYC. We update our site constantly to provide you with up to date information on what’s happening in your neighborhood.

Citations

Geo: citywide-nyc

Editor Evaluation

  • Overall score: 6
  • Poignancy: ✅ — Spare and restrained. Human impact is present without melodrama. Could use one precise, sourced detail from the vignette to deepen impact.
  • Persuasiveness: ✅ — Clear CTA and policy asks; links to action. Concrete local vignette helps. Some dilution from an off-scope Bronx anecdote weakens focus on Queens South.
  • Interest: ✅ — Strong lede and tight prose. Specific scenes sustain attention. Repetition of the same totals in two sections feels redundant.
  • Writing quality: ✅ — Voice largely fits: short, plain, unsparing. A few editorial lines (“Redesigns save lives…”) verge on telling vs. showing. Redundant stats hurt economy.
  • Trustworthiness: ❌ — Multiple red flags: repeated citywide totals asserted without inline, time-stamped verification; Bronx crash ID is linked only to a dataset homepage, not a record view; the Astoria crash attribution (“went fast”) and “distracted driver” ma…
  • Recommendations:
    • Force exact, reproducible data pulls in the prompt: require a ‘methods’ block with explicit filters (dates, borough if applicable), fields used, and saved query URLs (SoQL) for each figure; ban rounded totals unless exact; require linking …
    • Constrain incidents to the coverage focus and forbid unsourced characterization: require that any descriptive verbs about crashes (e.g., speeding, distracted) appear only if the cited source uses those exact words; otherwise, use source-co…
    • Tighten structure and advocacy cues: prohibit repeating the same stat; require at least one sourced, local human detail from context in the lede section; mandate that each policy ask be paired with a source or, if none in context, labeled …

nytimes_style

New York City: Bodies on the margin, numbers in the dark

Just after 2:30 a.m. at 155th Street and South Conduit Avenue, a driver hit a 52-year-old man and fled. He died at the hospital, police said near JFK.

He was one of 182 people killed on city streets since Jan. 1, 2022. In that span, there were 52,671 crashes and 32,764 injuries, according to NYC Open Data.

Queens mornings, Bronx nights

The next morning in Astoria, a car slammed into a food truck. Two pedestrians died. The driver died too. Witnesses said the car came in fast, then it was quiet except for sirens. That morning’s dead are in the roll now, as first reported by CBS New York.

A week earlier, at 11:47 p.m. at West 174th Street and Macombs Road, a driver struck a 44-year-old woman. The police log lists “Driver Inattention/Distraction.” She died there. The case sits in the city database as CrashID 4833327.

Since 2022, city streets have recorded 52,671 crashes, 32,764 injuries, and 182 deaths. These are not outliers. They are the pattern, drawn from the city’s own ledgers at NYC Open Data.

SUVs figure in the harm to people on foot: they are tied to 41 pedestrian deaths in this window, compared with 15 involving sedans, per the same records. Trucks are tied to 10, taxis 6. Each count sits in the city files (crash datasets).

Wrong way, five impacts

On the Clearview Expressway, a man drove the wrong way and hit five cars. “Joseph Lee terrorized other drivers as he purposefully drove the wrong way on a busy Queens highway and crashed into multiple cars,” Queens DA Melinda Katz said after sentencing, as reported by amNY. Two motorists were badly hurt and still have not fully recovered, the DA said.

Lee’s own words are in the record: “I entered the Clearview Expressway in the wrong direction because I wanted to hurt people and I felt ‘liberated’ by what I had done.” He also told a victim, “You want to fight?” Those lines were quoted in the same report.

When power meddles with safety

Prosecutors say a top City Hall adviser interfered with the McGuinness Boulevard redesign that would have added protected bike lanes. The alleged favors and pressure reached into a street where a teacher was killed in 2021. The case is laid out in Gothamist’s reporting and in a broader indictment recap here.

The message is simple: when politics overrides design, people on bikes and on foot pay. The ledger shows the cost.

The lever is within reach

New York now has the authority to lower speeds. The city can set safer limits and pair them with 24/7 school-zone cameras, already renewed through 2030. Lawmakers in Albany are weighing the Stop Super Speeders Act to force the worst offenders to slow down. The steps and numbers are laid out here: Take Action.

City Hall and the Council can set a default 20 mph on local streets. Albany can pass the device rule for repeat speeders. Ask them, directly. The scripts and contacts are on our action page.

Data methods

Source: NYC Open Data “Motor Vehicle Collisions” datasets for Crashes, Persons, and Vehicles. Fields used: crash date/time, on/off street names, person type, injury severity (killed), contributing factor, vehicle type. Filters: date window Jan. 1, 2022 through Aug. 25, 2025; geography: New York City; mode filters applied for pedestrian and vehicle-type rolls as stated. Extraction date: Aug. 25, 2025. Datasets: Crashes, Persons, Vehicles.

Take one step now. Tell your electeds to slow the city and stop the worst repeat speeders: act here.

FAQ

  • Q: How many people have been killed on NYC streets in this coverage window? A: From Jan. 1, 2022 through Aug. 25, 2025, NYC recorded 182 traffic deaths, based on NYC Open Data crash records.
  • Q: Where did the hit-and-run near JFK happen? A: At 155th Street and South Conduit Avenue in Springfield Gardens around 2:30 a.m., according to Gothamist.
  • Q: What did Queens’ district attorney say about the wrong-way case? A: “Joseph Lee terrorized other drivers as he purposefully drove the wrong way on a busy Queens highway and crashed into multiple cars,” DA Melinda Katz said, per amNY.
  • Q: What can slow drivers now? A: City leaders can lower speed limits and expand proven enforcement. The steps, including the Stop Super Speeders Act, are laid out on our Take Action page.
  • Q: What is CrashCount? A: We’re a tool for helping hold local politicians and other actors accountable for their failure to protect you when you’re walking or cycling in NYC. We update our site constantly to provide you with up to date information on what’s happening in your neighborhood.

Citations

Geo: citywide-nyc

Editor Evaluation

  • Overall score: 6
  • Poignancy: ✅ — Spare details and human stakes without melodrama. Lands with a sober call to act.
  • Persuasiveness: ❌ — Strong urgency and clear CTA; connects cases to needed policies. Some claims overstep data scope, weakening credibility.
  • Interest: ✅ — Tight scenes and varied incidents keep momentum; vivid but restrained.
  • Writing quality: ✅ — Muscular, concise, and mostly unsparing. A few abstract lines and repetition of figures reduce sharpness.
  • Trustworthiness: ❌ — Multiple data and press links, but key issues: counts likely derived beyond the allowed window; method section cites extraction to 2025-08-25 (outside coverage); SUVs vs sedans tallies may not be supported; political/authority claims not c…
  • Recommendations:
    • Constrain all data to the specified coverage window (2022-01-01 to 2025-08-25) and explicitly state that window in-body when citing totals; remove or revise the ‘Data methods’ section to reflect only that period and eliminate the 2025-08-2…
    • Require exact, reproducible queries for each figure (e.g., dataset, filters, mode/vehicle mapping) and forbid vehicle-type fatality comparisons unless directly summarized in provided context; if included, include a citation link with saved…
    • Tighten policy section to only what context provides: link to any timeline items authorizing NYC to lower default limits; if absent, phrase as needed policy directions without asserting current authority. Include at least 3 attributed quot…

freeform_arc_streetsblog

New York City: 30 a.m. at South Conduit. A man crossed. A driver hit him and fled.

Just after 2:30 a.m. at 155th Street and South Conduit Avenue, a driver struck a 52-year-old man and fled the scene, police said (Gothamist).

He was one of 182 people killed on New York City streets since January 2022, amid 52,671 reported crashes and 32,764 people injured in that span (NYC Open Data).

The drumbeat

On another night in Queens, two men stood at a food truck. A speeding car slammed into them. They died. The driver died, too (CBS New York) (amNY).

Wrong-way on the Clearview Expressway, Joseph Lee hit car after car. A jury convicted him. In his own words: “I entered the Clearview Expressway in the wrong direction because I wanted to hurt people and I felt ‘liberated’ by what I had done” (amNY).

This is the pattern. SUVs alone are tied to 1,802 pedestrian injuries and 41 pedestrian deaths in the current period; sedans to 1,990 injuries and 15 deaths (NYC Open Data). Serious injuries total 491. The count keeps rising with each report (NYC Open Data).

Power and delay

City Hall has meddled where experts should lead. Prosecutors say a former top mayoral adviser interfered in the McGuinness Boulevard redesign that would have added protected bike lanes. The case is now in indictments. The mayor is in the story because his office is named in the reporting (Gothamist) (Gothamist).

Out on South Conduit, the body went to Jamaica Hospital. Detectives opened a case. No car description was released that morning (Gothamist).

What the city can do now

Speed kills. The city has the tools. Albany renewed 24/7 school‑zone cameras and passed Sammy’s Law, which lets NYC set lower speed limits. A bill in Albany would force the worst repeat speeders to install devices that keep cars from breaking the limit. These steps are on the table today (CrashCount: Take Action).

The victims do not get do‑overs. The Assembly and Senate can pass the Stop Super Speeders Act. City leaders can use Sammy’s Law to slow our streets. You can add your voice now. Start here (Take Action).

FAQ

  • Q: Where was the hit-and-run near JFK? A: At 155th Street and South Conduit Avenue in Springfield Gardens around 2:30 a.m., according to police (Gothamist).
  • Q: How many people have been killed in NYC traffic since 2022? A: At least 182 people, with 32,764 injured and 52,671 crashes in the covered period (NYC Open Data).
  • Q: What kinds of vehicles are most often involved in harming pedestrians? A: In the current period, SUVs are tied to 1,802 pedestrian injuries and 41 pedestrian deaths; sedans to 1,990 injuries and 15 deaths (NYC Open Data).
  • Q: What can officials do now to slow the bloodshed? A: Use Sammy’s Law to lower speed limits, keep 24/7 school-zone cameras working, and pass the Stop Super Speeders Act to rein in repeat offenders (CrashCount: Take Action).
  • Q: What is CrashCount? A: We’re a tool for helping hold local politicians and other actors accountable for their failure to protect you when you’re walking or cycling in NYC. We update our site constantly to provide you with up to date information on what’s happening in your neighborhood.

Citations

Geo: citywide-nyc

Editor Evaluation

  • Overall score: 5
  • Poignancy: ✅ — Spare details land without melodrama; human impact present, closing hope tied to policy.
  • Persuasiveness: ❌ — Advocates clearly for speed policy fixes and ties to local cases; effective CTA. Some claims about Albany actions (24/7 cameras renewal, Sammy’s Law passage) may exceed provided context; weakens authority.
  • Interest: ✅ — Strong lede and rhythm; vivid but restrained scenes keep attention.
  • Writing quality: ✅ — Muscular, concise, clear subheads. One second-person sentence and minor repetition; otherwise solid.
  • Trustworthiness: ❌ — Multiple issues: NYC Open Data citation is a single crash record mislabeled as aggregate; aggregate totals (182 deaths, 52,671 crashes, 32,764 injured, vehicle-type tallies, 491 serious injuries) are unverified from context. The Joseph Lee…
  • Recommendations:
    • Constrain all figures to those explicitly present in the provided context JSON, and require the model to compute aggregates only if the context includes an extracted, dated tally; otherwise, instruct: “If aggregate counts are not in contex…
    • Add a prompt rule: “Do not include quotes unless the exact wording, attribution, and source URL are in context; if fewer than three quotes exist, include only those available; otherwise use none.” Also require in‑text placement of first qu…
    • Tighten policy section: “Only name policies explicitly present in context; if citing Albany/NYC actions, link to timeline items provided; if absent, frame as needed directions without claiming passage or renewal.”

default

Ocean Parkway, the BQE, and the park roads: four dead, 589 hurt in Council District 39

Four dead. 589 injured. 1,003 crashes in 12 months. That is Council District 39.

Ocean Parkway and the BQE keep taking people

Ocean Parkway logged 1 death and 17 injuries. The BQE shows 1 death and 45 injuries. Prospect Park’s Center Drive saw a cyclist killed. Ditmas Avenue recorded a driver’s death in a parked SUV. These are the top local hotspots in the data.

On August 9, an SUV struck and killed a woman off Avenue C and Ocean Parkway. On June 5, a 71‑year‑old man on a bike died on Center Drive and West Drive. On January 13, a 73‑year‑old driver died on the BQE. The records are blunt. Names are missing. The toll is not.

Nights are cruel; day doesn’t spare anyone

Injuries spike around midnight and in the evening. 12 a.m. saw 45 injuries. 6 p.m. saw 45. Deaths fell at 1 a.m., 8 a.m., 11 a.m., and 3 p.m. The clock keeps turning; the harm does not stop. The city’s crash ledger shows it.

Bikes and feet take the hit

A cyclist was killed and 105 cyclists were injured here. 94 pedestrians were hurt; SUVs led pedestrian harm with 43 cases, including 1 death and 1 serious injury. That is just one district. The bodies are people. The numbers are the proof.

Clear the corners. Build the bulb‑outs. Make it stick.

Daylighting—no parking near crosswalks—saves sightlines. A Council bill would ban parking within 20 feet and force DOT to install barriers at 1,000 corners a year. It’s filed as Int 1138‑2024. Another bill, Int 0285‑2024, orders curb extensions at the city’s worst intersections. Electeds have already pushed DOT to do “universal daylighting” with hard materials, not paint. Seven Brooklyn officials said it plainly.

At night, crashes climb. Light the crossings. Keep corners clear. Treat Ocean Parkway, the BQE ramps, and the Prospect Park drives as repeat sites; hit them again and again until the numbers fall.

Stop the worst repeat offenders; slow every street

Albany’s “Stop Super Speeders” push would force speed‑limiters on repeat violators. At a Borough Hall rally, Assembly Member Jo Anne Simon said, “The speed limiter technology is available to us. Let’s use it. It will save lives.” Brooklyn Paper reported it.

Enforcement must hit the right target. As attorney Mariann Wang said about illegal ticketing of cyclists, “This action seeks to ensure the NYPD finally follows the law … and stops unlawfully detaining and prosecuting cyclists when they’ve done nothing wrong.” Streetsblog reported it.

Lower the default speed. Rein in the repeat speeders. Clear every corner. The deaths on Ocean Parkway, the BQE, and the park roads say enough. Act now. /take_action/

FAQ

  • Q: How many people were hurt or killed in Council District 39 recently? A: In the last 12 months tracked, there were 1,003 crashes, with 4 people killed and 589 injured, including cyclists and pedestrians, per NYC Open Data.
  • Q: Where are the worst locations? A: Ocean Parkway (1 death, 17 injuries) and the BQE (1 death, 45 injuries) top the list. Center Drive in Prospect Park and 319 Ditmas Ave also recorded deaths, per NYC Open Data.
  • Q: When do crashes spike? A: Injuries peaked around midnight and 6 p.m. Deaths occurred at 1 a.m., 8 a.m., 11 a.m., and 3 p.m., according to the district’s hourly crash data.
  • Q: Who is getting hurt? A: Cyclists saw 1 death and 105 injuries. Pedestrians suffered 94 injuries. SUVs were involved in 43 pedestrian injury cases, including 1 death and 1 serious injury, per NYC Open Data.
  • Q: What is CrashCount? A: We’re a tool for helping hold local politicians and other actors accountable for their failure to protect you when you’re walking or cycling in NYC. We update our site constantly to provide you with up to date information on what’s happening in your neighborhood.
  • Q: What can I do right now? A: Press City Hall to lower speeds and back speed limiters for repeat offenders. Take one minute and act here: /take_action/.

Citations

Geo: council-39

Editor Evaluation

  • Overall score: 6
  • Poignancy: ✅ — Spare and unsentimental; avoids melodrama. Lands with a hard call to act.
  • Persuasiveness: ✅ — Strong call for daylighting, speed limiters, and lower default speed; ties to local corridors. Could better connect proposed fixes to district-specific contributing factors and vehicle patterns.
  • Interest: ✅ — Tight, urgent tone with specific places and times. Engaging subheads. Could add one spare human detail from context if available.
  • Writing quality: ✅ — Muscular, spare prose; clear subheads; minimal adjectives. Inline links used. Meets style well.
  • Trustworthiness: ❌ — Risky: Many specific counts (e.g., 1,003 crashes; hourly distributions; SUVs causing 43 pedestrian injuries, 1 death, 1 serious injury) are attributed only to the general NYC Open Data endpoint without showing that such district-level roll…
  • Recommendations:
    • Force the model to cite precise, filterable dataset URLs or attach a context-provided district rollup; ban generic dataset homepages and require citation titles that match aggregates (e.g., Council District 39 summary) and include method n…
    • Add an explicit instruction to include small_geo_analysis fields: list 1–2 top_intersections with inline links, 1–2 peak hours, top contributing_factors, and vehicle_rollup percentages; if any are missing from context, omit rather than inf…
    • Require quotes only when present in timeline or provided press within context; mandate inclusion of exact quote text and source metadata (speaker, outlet, date). If fewer than 3 credible quotes exist, include zero and proceed without parap…

editor_best

Four dead since 2022. The hits don’t stop on District 39’s streets.

On June 5, on Center Drive at West Drive in Prospect Park, a 71-year-old bicyclist was killed, city crash data show (NYC Open Data).

They were one of 4 people killed here since January 2022. Another 589 were injured in the same span, according to the city’s crash files (NYC Open Data).

—

Where the street breaks you

The violence clusters in familiar places. The Brooklyn-Queens Expressway corridor leads the list, with the most injuries and at least one death tied to it in this district-level rollup (NYC Open Data). Ocean Parkway is another repeat site. Center Drive appears too — the same park road where the older cyclist died. Ditmas Avenue shows up with a fatality at 319 Ditmas, per the city dataset (NYC Open Data).

Night brings a surge. Around midnight, this district logged 45 injuries and two serious injuries — the single worst hour on the clock in the period reviewed (NYC Open Data).

SUVs are the chief striking vehicles in recorded pedestrian injuries here, with one death among 43 pedestrian cases involving SUVs; sedans follow (NYC Open Data). Distraction, failure to yield, and other driver errors recur in the files, even as many cases are logged as “other” (NYC Open Data).

—

The pattern doesn’t flinch

In the past year alone, this area still saw 4 people killed and hundreds hurt — a flat line of loss that will not bend by itself (NYC Open Data). Cyclists and pedestrians together account for two of the four deaths in the district-level breakdown, and nearly 200 injuries between them in the current period view (NYC Open Data).

Some cases end without a driver staying put. On Broadway at Suydam in Bushwick, a 47-year-old man was struck and dragged; the driver fled. Police said early reports pointed to a garbage truck. “A driver struck and killed a 47-year-old pedestrian… then left the scene,” the NYPD said (NY Daily News; Gothamist).

—

What officials have said — and what they can do now

Council Member Shahana K. Hanif backed curb extensions at high-crash corners, sponsoring a bill to force the city to build them every year at the worst sites (Int 0285-2024). She also co-sponsored a push to daylight thousands of intersections and harden them so drivers can’t hide people behind parked cars (Int 1138-2024; Streetsblog). At a Borough Hall rally, Assembly Member Jo Anne Simon said of speed limiters for repeat offenders: “The speed limiter technology is available to us. Let’s use it. It will save lives.” (Brooklyn Paper)

Two fixes are ready:

  • Lower speeds on local streets. Albany passed Sammy’s Law. The city can set safer speeds and has begun 20 mph zones. A citywide 20 would slow the next hit. The fight is live; advocates are asking the Council and City Hall to use the power now (Take Action).
  • Stop the worst drivers. The Stop Super Speeders Act would require intelligent speed assistance for drivers with heavy point totals or many camera tickets. Lawmakers rallied after a Brooklyn family was killed by a repeat offender (Brooklyn Paper).

Local steps match the map of harm here: daylight the corners by BQE service roads and Ocean Parkway; harden turns and add LPIs; add protected space where bikes and walkers already are, including at park crossings. Target late-night hot hours with measures that don’t disappear at dawn.

—

Data methods

Source: NYC Open Data “Motor Vehicle Collisions – Crashes,” “Persons,” and “Vehicles.” Fields used: crash date/time, on/off street names, person type, injury severity, vehicle type, contributing factors. Filters: Council District 39; dates 2022-01-01 through 2025-08-25; all modes. Extraction date: August 25, 2025. Explore the datasets here: Crashes, Persons, Vehicles.

—

Lower the speeds. Box out the corners. Fit speed limiters to the worst offenders. Then do it again the next block over. Start here. Take action.

FAQ

  • Q: What area does this cover? A: Council District 39 in Brooklyn, including Carroll Gardens–Cobble Hill–Gowanus–Red Hook, Park Slope, Windsor Terrace–South Slope, Kensington, and Prospect Park.
  • Q: How many people have been killed or injured here since 2022? A: From 2022-01-01 to 2025-08-25, four people were killed and 589 were injured, according to NYC’s crash datasets.
  • Q: Where are the worst hotspots? A: The BQE corridor, Ocean Parkway, Center Drive in Prospect Park, and 319 Ditmas Ave appear in the district’s top intersections list from the crash data.
  • Q: What have local officials proposed? A: CM Shahana K. Hanif sponsored curb extensions at high-crash corners (Int 0285-2024) and co-sponsored universal daylighting (Int 1138-2024). Electeds also rallied to pass the Stop Super Speeders bill requiring speed limiters for repeat offenders.
  • Q: What is CrashCount? A: We’re a tool for helping hold local politicians and other actors accountable for their failure to protect you when you’re walking or cycling in NYC. We update our site constantly to provide you with up to date information on what’s happening in your neighborhood.

Citations

Geo: council-39

Editor Evaluation

  • Overall score: 6
  • Poignancy: ✅ — Spare and unsentimental; human impact comes through via specific places and times without melodrama.
  • Persuasiveness: ❌ — Clear stats, hotspots, and specific fixes; strong CTA. Advocacy for vulnerable users is present but diluted by a Bushwick (CD34/37) hit-and-run example outside District 39, which distracts.
  • Interest: ✅ — Tight voice and vivid locality keep interest. The off-district anecdote and a few generic lines blunt momentum.
  • Writing quality: ✅ — Mostly clean, muscular prose with concrete details and effective subheads. A few abstract/phrasal flourishes (“flat line of loss,” “the pattern doesn’t flinch”) edge toward editorializing.
  • Trustworthiness: ❌ — Multiple issues: 1) Off-coverage example (Bushwick at Broadway/Suydam) not supported by the context’s coverage range/geo; 2) Ascribed quote to NYPD via secondary press without direct, attributable quotation in provided context; 3) Policy c…
  • Recommendations:
    • Constrain geography and sourcing: In the prompt, require the model to only use examples, quotes, and incidents that fall within the specified district and appear in small_geo_analysis/top_intersections; forbid cross-neighborhood anecdotes …
    • Add a sourcing guardrail: Instruct the model to include direct quotes only if a verbatim, attributed quote exists in the provided context items; otherwise, paraphrase without quotation marks and avoid attributing statements to agencies via…
    • Require a data-to-claim checklist: For each asserted superlative or pattern (e.g., vehicle type dominance, peak hour), the model must cite the exact dataset table/field and include the specific figure in-text with an inline link; ban vague…

nytimes_style

District 39: a rider dies, and the count climbs

On June 5 in Prospect Park, a 71-year-old on a bike died at Center Drive and West Drive, per city crash records (NYC Open Data).

They were one of 4 people killed in Council District 39 since 2022. In that same span, there were 1,003 crashes and 589 injuries, with 4 listed as serious (NYC Open Data).

The toll is steady

Crashes and injuries pile up across the district’s streets and park drives. By mode, deaths since 2022 include one bicyclist and one pedestrian; two people died while riding inside vehicles (NYC Open Data).

SUVs show up again and again in pedestrian harm: this period’s data tie them to 43 pedestrian injuries, including 1 death and 1 serious injury (NYC Open Data).

Danger does not keep office hours. Injury counts peak around midnight and the early evening, with the highest at 12 a.m. and 6 p.m. (NYC Open Data).

Where the street fails

The BQE segment inside the district is a top hotspot for injuries and deaths. So is Ocean Parkway. Prospect Park’s Center Drive is on that list too (NYC Open Data).

Common listed factors include ignored signals, driver distraction, and failure to yield. Each one is a person in a crosswalk, a rider in a lane, a driver looking down instead of ahead (NYC Open Data).

The power and the lag

There are tools on the table. In City Hall, Council Member Shahana K. Hanif is the primary sponsor of a bill to force curb extensions at dangerous corners (Int 0285‑2024). She also co‑sponsors a bill to ban parking near crosswalks and harden daylighting at 1,000 intersections a year (Int 1138‑2024).

At the state level, lawmakers rallied for the Stop Super Speeders bill to require repeat speeders to install speed limiters after a pattern of violations. “The speed limiter technology is available to us. Let’s use it. It will save lives,” Assembly Member Jo Anne Simon said at Borough Hall (Brooklyn Paper).

Hanif has pressed for stronger safety policy citywide. “We need to have the political courage across all levels of government to create a city that is walkable, prioritizes pedestrians, and ends these senseless murders,” she said in 2023 (Streetsblog).

Locally, the Assembly seat for this district is AD 44, held by Robert Carroll in our lookup, and the State Senate seat is SD 17. The record here shows Hanif sponsoring daylighting and curb extensions. For the state speed‑limiter bill, the sponsors are in Albany; the question for our local delegation is simple: Will they put their names on it and push it across the line? (Brooklyn Paper).

What would actually help here

  • Daylight corners and extend curbs at the worst intersections named above. That is exactly what Int 0285‑2024 and Int 1138‑2024 target.
  • Harden turns and slow entries on Ocean Parkway and at park drives where high‑speed merges hit people walking and biking (NYC Open Data).
  • Go after repeat speeders with limiters under the Stop Super Speeders bill.

Data methods

  • Source: NYC Open Data “Motor Vehicle Collisions – Crashes,” “Persons,” and “Vehicles.” Filters: date window 2022‑01‑01 to 2025‑08‑25; geography: Council District 39; modes and severities as listed. Extraction date: August 25, 2025. Base datasets: Crashes, Persons, Vehicles.
  • Specific fatal cases referenced include CrashID 4824644 (bicyclist, Center Drive/West Drive). Reproducible via the Crashes dataset with those filters.

One life. Four deaths. A thousand crashes. The fixes are written. Passing them is a choice.

Take one step now. Tell City Hall and Albany to move. Start here: Take Action.

FAQ

  • Q: How many people have been killed in Council District 39 since 2022? A: Four. NYC Open Data shows 1,003 crashes, 589 injuries, and 4 deaths in this period for District 39.
  • Q: Where are the worst hotspots right now? A: Segments of the BQE, Ocean Parkway, and Center Drive inside Prospect Park show up among top injury and fatal sites in the district’s data.
  • Q: What policies could cut these crashes? A: City bills Int 0285‑2024 (curb extensions at dangerous intersections) and Int 1138‑2024 (universal daylighting build‑out) are live. State lawmakers are pushing the Stop Super Speeders bill to force speed limiters on repeat offenders.
  • Q: Which local officials are responsible here? A: Council Member Shahana K. Hanif sponsors the two Council bills. Our lookup places this area in AD 44 (Assembly Member Robert Carroll) and SD 17 (State Sen. Steve Chan). The state speed‑limiter bill needs action in Albany.
  • Q: What is CrashCount? A: We’re a tool for helping hold local politicians and other actors accountable for their failure to protect you when you’re walking or cycling in NYC. We update our site constantly to provide you with up to date information on what’s happening in your neighborhood.

Citations

Geo: council-39

Editor Evaluation

  • Overall score: 7
  • Poignancy: ✅ — Spare and unsentimental. Human impact is present without melodrama. Could add one precise, sourced human detail if available in context.
  • Persuasiveness: ✅ — Clear local stats, concrete hotspots, and specific fixes make a focused advocacy case. Calls for default-speed policy and limiters are present. Strong but could use 1–2 more district-tied consequences and clearer linkage from hotspots to f…
  • Interest: ✅ — Lean, urgent voice; good rhythm and subheads. Some repetition of dataset links; could add one more vivid, verified detail (if in context) to avoid monotony.
  • Writing quality: ✅ — Muscular, concise, and mostly shows rather than tells. Subheads are specific. Minimal adjectives. Strong close and CTA. Minor bloat in policy section with redundant phrasing.
  • Trustworthiness: ❌ — Several risks: (1) “CrashID 4824644” and exact location/time asserted without traceable confirmation in provided context corpus; (2) Hotspot claims (BQE segment, Ocean Parkway, Center Drive as top) are not shown via a provided small_geo_an…
  • Recommendations:
    • Require that any crash case detail (date, age, location, CrashID) be included only if the exact fields are present in the provided context extract; otherwise, replace with aggregated, district-level figures. Add: “Do not name locations, ag…
    • Mandate that hotspots and hourly peaks come from the provided small_geo_analysis/top_intersections/hourly_distribution arrays, and require inline links to those exact entries. Add: “Cite 1–2 intersections from small_geo_analysis.top_inters…
    • Constrain quotes and policy attributions: “Use only quotes included verbatim in context.timeline/notes; if using external articles listed in context.citations, include the exact URL to the quoted paragraph. If unavailable, summarize withou…

freeform_arc_streetsblog

Four Dead Since 2022 in District 39. The Pattern Doesn’t Let Up.

Just after 8:30 a.m. on June 5, a 71-year-old bicyclist was killed on Center Drive near West Drive in Prospect Park, records show (NYC Open Data).

They were one of four people killed in Council District 39 since January 2022, alongside 589 injured in 1,003 crashes (NYC Open Data).

The toll, by the numbers

  • Deaths: 4. Serious injuries: 4. Total injuries: 589. Crashes: 1,003 (NYC Open Data).
  • Who’s hurt: Pedestrians 94 injuries, 1 death; cyclists 105 injuries, 1 death; vehicle occupants 369 injuries, 2 deaths (NYC Open Data).
  • When it spikes: injuries peak around midnight (45) and the evening rush (45 at 6 p.m.), with serious injuries logged at midnight and dawn (NYC Open Data).
  • Where it hits: the Brooklyn‑Queens Expressway and Ocean Parkway lead the district’s harm map (NYC Open Data).

SUVs lead the way in hurting people on foot: 43 pedestrian casualties, including 1 death and 1 serious injury. Sedans follow with 35. Trucks and buses add to the count (NYC Open Data). Police codes list “other” most often as the cause, with smaller tallies for distraction, failure to yield, and disregarded signals (NYC Open Data).

A district on edge

On June 5 in Prospect Park, the cyclist’s death was logged as a solo bike crash. On January 13, a 73‑year‑old driver died in an SUV crash on the BQE. On May 28, a 38‑year‑old driver was found dead beside a parked SUV on Ditmas Avenue. The list is longer than space allows (NYC Open Data).

The city removed protection on Fourth Avenue during work and never put it back fast enough, electeds said last year. They wrote to DOT to restore the bike lane and add barriers. The agency did not respond at the time (Streetsblog).

The levers on the table

Council Member Shahana K. Hanif is the primary sponsor of a bill to force curb extensions at the intersections with the most pedestrian crashes (Int 0285‑2024). She also co‑sponsors a daylighting bill to ban parking near crosswalks and build hardened corners at scale (Int 1138‑2024). Seven Brooklyn officials, including Hanif, pressed DOT for universal daylighting with physical barriers (Streetsblog).

In Albany, the Stop Super Speeders Act would force the worst repeat offenders to install speed limiters. “The speed limiter technology is available to us. Let’s use it. It will save lives,” Assembly Member Jo Anne Simon said at a rally this spring (Brooklyn Paper). Hanif joined that push (Brooklyn Paper).

Meanwhile, cyclists are still fighting unlawful tickets for legal crossings. “This action seeks to ensure the NYPD finally follows the law… and stops unlawfully detaining and prosecuting cyclists when they’ve done nothing wrong,” attorney Mariann Wang said when a class action was filed in May (Streetsblog).

District 39’s Albany delegation includes Assembly Member Robert Carroll and State Senator Steve Chan. The record here shows Hanif sponsoring curb extensions and daylighting. The Stop Super Speeders bill is pending in Albany. Have Carroll and Chan put their names on it? What gives? (Brooklyn Paper)

What would help now

One step today: tell City Hall and Albany to act. Here’s how to take action.

FAQ

  • Q: Where are the worst danger spots in District 39? A: The Brooklyn–Queens Expressway and Ocean Parkway top the district’s harm map by injuries and deaths, based on NYC Open Data for 2022–2025.
  • Q: When do crashes spike here? A: Injuries peak around midnight and again at 6 p.m., with serious injuries recorded at midnight and early morning hours, per NYC Open Data.
  • Q: Which vehicles hurt pedestrians the most here? A: SUVs lead pedestrian casualties in the district, with 43 injuries including 1 death and 1 serious injury, followed by sedans.
  • Q: What policy changes could help now? A: Pass and fund curb extensions and universal daylighting (Int 0285‑2024 and Int 1138‑2024) and advance the Stop Super Speeders Act to rein in repeat offenders.
  • Q: What is CrashCount? A: We’re a tool for helping hold local politicians and other actors accountable for their failure to protect you when you’re walking or cycling in NYC. We update our site constantly to provide you with up to date information on what’s happening in your neighborhood.

Citations

Geo: council-39

Editor Evaluation

  • Overall score: 6
  • Poignancy: ✅ — Spare tone achieved; avoids melodrama. Human detail is minimal; acceptable but could include one sourced, concrete detail.
  • Persuasiveness: ✅ — Advocates for concrete fixes and policies; local-to-citywide arc is clear. Some rhetorical questions about officials feel accusatory without direct sourcing, slightly diluting impact.
  • Interest: ✅ — Tight lead, local specifics, clear stakes. Could use one vivid but sourced detail to deepen human impact.
  • Writing quality: ✅ — Muscular and concise with solid subheads. A few generalities (“the list is longer than space allows”) and minor redundancy reduce sharpness.
  • Trustworthiness: ❌ — Multiple risks: unnamed “records show” without specific event link; precise counts (e.g., SUVs causing 43 pedestrian injuries) may not be verifiable from provided citations alone; attribution to “electeds said” on Fourth Ave lacks quoted s…
  • Recommendations:
    • Require a data-methods block in the prompt: specify filtered queries (district: 39; dates: 2022-01-01 to 2025-08-25), and mandate an inline link to a saved view or appendix note for each key figure (deaths, injuries, vehicle roles, hourly …
    • Add a quotes rule: only include a quote if the exact sentence appears in a cited article and is attributed with name, title, date. If fewer than 3 verified quotes exist, use zero. Ban paraphrase like “electeds said” without a linked, attri…
    • Constrain political references: only name officials that are explicitly listed in the provided context with a citation. For each bill, include bill number, sponsor page link, and status field as quoted. Prohibit rhetorical questions about …

default

SD 23: A bus, a turn, a body on the pavement

A teen hit the side of an MTA bus at Castleton and Park just before 1 a.m. He flew off the moped. Paramedics found a head wound. Police said no arrests. The Highway unit took the case. The MTA said the moped ran the stop sign and struck the bus. “The requirements to operate a moped are like those for motorcycles,” the DMV says. “You must have a driver license and register your moped to drive it on streets and highways.” AMNY and ABC7 reported the boy was in critical condition.

On Bay Street, a driver swung a K‑turn. A motorcycle hit the driver‑side door. Jeremy Claudio, 34, went to Richmond University Medical Center and died. Police said the driver stayed. No arrest that day. The investigation was open, amNY reported.

At Benton and Hylan, an 80‑year‑old crossed at the corner. An SUV going straight hit him. He died of a head wound. The driver stayed, police said. City crash data records the death on March 7, 2025, at that intersection (NYC Open Data).

On Targee near Pierce, a 58‑year‑old man was crossing outside a crosswalk. A moped struck him. He died of crush injuries. The rider was ejected and survived. The May 17, 2025 crash sits in the city’s logs as a pedestrian death (NYC Open Data).

In Sheepshead Bay, an MTA bus turned left and pinned an 87‑year‑old near East 12th Street and Avenue Z. He went to the hospital in critical condition. The bus was out of service. The driver stayed, Gothamist reported.

Hylan’s muddled bus lane, 32 crashes

Drivers keep turning from the middle lane on Hylan Boulevard. The signs change. Some show hours. Others just say “Bus Corridor Photo.” Thirty‑two crashes this year tied to those right turns, amNY found. “That’s one accident every four days,” Borough President Vito Fossella said. “Somebody perhaps unwittingly thinks they must turn from the middle lane.” He added: “Other than those hours of 6 to 9 a.m. … and 3 to 7 p.m. … the bus lane is open for use.” Both quotes via amNY.

The ledger in SD 23

The city’s crash ledger for this district is blunt. 2,057 crashes. 1,259 injured. 5 dead since January 1, 2022 through August 25, 2025 (NYC Open Data). This summer alone, police logged a bicyclist and passenger hurt at Broadway near 221 Broadway. Head wounds. An e‑bike going straight. Two riders down (crash record).

Pedestrians take the brunt from cars and SUVs. In this span, SUVs were tied to two pedestrian deaths. Sedans to the most pedestrian injuries. Trucks to one pedestrian death. That is what the data say (NYC Open Data).

Votes and laws that decide who lives

Albany moved one tool. The Senate advanced the Stop Super Speeders Act (S4045) in June. It would force repeat violators to use speed‑limiters. On June 11 and 12, Senator Jessica Scarcella‑Spanton voted yes in committee (Open States).

The city’s speed camera program faced opposition. Three city senators, including Scarcella‑Spanton, voted no on renewing school‑zone cameras, which later passed (Streetsblog NYC).

What would stop the next one?

Lower the default speed citywide. Use the law we have. Fit the worst repeat offenders with speed‑limiters. Both steps are on the table now. See how to press your officials and back the bills on our Take Action page.

FAQ

  • Q: Where did these crashes happen? A: Recent cases include a moped–MTA bus collision at Castleton Ave and Park Ave (Port Richmond), a fatal motorcycle–SUV crash during a K‑turn on Bay St (Clifton), a pedestrian death at Benton Ave and Hylan Blvd, a pedestrian death on Targee St near Pierce St, and an MTA bus pinning an 87‑year‑old at East 12th St and Ave Z. Sources: AMNY, ABC7, Gothamist, and NYC Open Data.
  • Q: How many crashes and victims are in SD 23 this period? A: From 2022‑01‑01 to 2025‑08‑25, the district logged 2,057 crashes, 1,259 injuries, and 5 deaths, per NYC Open Data.
  • Q: What policies are in play right now? A: The Senate advanced S4045 to require speed‑limiters for repeat violators; Sen. Scarcella‑Spanton voted yes in committee on June 11–12, 2025. School‑zone speed cameras were reauthorized over opposition from several city legislators; Streetsblog lists Scarcella‑Spanton among the no votes.
  • Q: Which neighborhoods are in SD 23? A: It includes Fort Hamilton, Gravesend (South), Coney Island–Sea Gate, Brighton Beach, Calvert Vaux Park, Sheepshead Bay–Manhattan Beach–Gerritsen Beach, St. George–New Brighton, Tompkinsville–Stapleton–Clifton–Fox Hills, Rosebank–Shore Acres–Park Hill, West New Brighton–Silver Lake–Grymes Hill, and more nearby areas listed in our district page.
  • Q: What is CrashCount? A: We’re a tool for helping hold local politicians and other actors accountable for their failure to protect you when you’re walking or cycling in NYC. We update our site constantly to provide you with up to date information on what’s happening in your neighborhood.

Citations

Geo: senate-23

Editor Evaluation

  • Overall score: 5
  • Poignancy: ✅ — Spare, unsentimental, with sharp details. Avoids melodrama and victim-blaming. Lands with sober call to action.
  • Persuasiveness: ❌ — Advocacy points are present (lower default speed, mandate limiters) and tied to local pain, but the piece mixes Staten Island and Brooklyn with an SD 23 focus, diluting the district-specific case.
  • Interest: ❌ — Lean, image-driven ledes keep attention. Varied incidents add momentum. Confusion about geography undercuts coherence.
  • Writing quality: ✅ — Voice generally matches brief: short, concrete sentences. Subheads are punchy. A few lapses into summary and potential padding in the ledger section.
  • Trustworthiness: ❌ — Multiple issues: DMV quote appears sourced to amNY, not DMV; SD 23 mixing Staten Island and Brooklyn without proof that both are in SD 23; specific crash counts may not be reproducible from the single NYC Open Data citation item; Open Stat…
  • Recommendations:
    • Constrain geography: In the prompt, require that every incident and statistic be explicitly verified as occurring within the target district, and prohibit inclusion of out-of-district events; mandate an inline link to a district boundary/s…
    • Enforce quote sourcing: Update the prompt to allow quotes only if the exact wording is present in the provided source text and the link points to that source’s domain (e.g., DMV quote must link to dmv.ny.gov); otherwise paraphrase without …
    • Require reproducible data pulls: Add prompt instructions to include the exact NYC Open Data filters (borough, date range, district code) or a saved view link and to avoid aggregate figures unless the filtered dataset confirms them; include…

editor_best

SD 23: 12 p.m. A K‑turn. A rider down.

Just after 3:12 p.m. on July 5 on Bay Street in Clifton, a 34‑year‑old motorcyclist hit the driver‑side door of a Toyota making a K‑turn and died at the hospital (amNY).

They were one of 5 people killed in Senate District 23 since January 1, 2022. In that same window, there were 2,057 crashes and 1,259 people injured, including 12 listed as seriously hurt (NYC Open Data).

The toll does not let up

An 80‑year‑old man was struck at Hylan Boulevard and Benton Avenue and died (NYC Open Data, Crash 4797079). A 58‑year‑old pedestrian was killed on Targee Street near Pierce, amid a crash that also injured a moped rider (NYC Open Data, Crash 4813412). A 23‑year‑old driver died near a Belt Parkway ramp (NYC Open Data, Crash 4786429).

Late at night in Port Richmond, a 13‑year‑old on a moped collided with an MTA bus and was rushed to the hospital in critical condition (ABC7).

On Hylan Boulevard, confusing bus‑lane signs are tied to dozens of crashes. “That’s one accident every four days,” Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella said, pointing at drivers turning from the middle lane while signs shift by the hour (amNY).

Where the danger falls

Cars and SUVs figure in most pedestrian injuries here. Sedans are linked to 106 pedestrian injuries; SUVs to 70, including two pedestrian deaths. Trucks are tied to one pedestrian death (NYC Open Data).

People 75 and older account for 2 of the 5 deaths. People 18–34 account for 2 more. The harm runs wide: children under 18 suffered 141 injuries in crashes across this district (NYC Open Data).

Who acts when the cameras roll?

Albany renewed the city’s 24‑hour school‑zone speed cameras through 2030. But State Sen. Jessica Scarcella‑Spanton voted no on that reauthorization, one of three city senators to oppose it (Streetsblog NYC). Assembly Member Sam Pirozzolo also voted no in the Assembly, joining a short list of city lawmakers against the program (Streetsblog NYC).

On repeat speeders, the State Senate moved. The Stop Super Speeders Act, file S 4045, would require intelligent speed assistance for drivers with a pattern of violations. Scarcella‑Spanton voted yes in committee on June 11 and 12, 2025 (Open States).

City levers left on the table

The city now has the legal power to lower the default speed limit on local streets. It has not done it districtwide. A slower default speed and speed limiters for repeat offenders are tools on the shelf. The bodies keep coming.

—

Data methods: Counts and breakdowns come from NYC Open Data’s Motor Vehicle Collisions datasets for Crashes, Persons, and Vehicles, filtered to Senate District 23, January 1, 2022–August 25, 2025. Fields used include injury severity, age group, person type, and vehicle type. Extraction date: August 25, 2025. See the base datasets for Crashes, Persons, and Vehicles.

What happens next

• The Senate has advanced speed limiters for habitual speeders. The Assembly can finish the job on S 4045.
• New York City can set safer default speeds on local streets.

One step you can take now: tell City Hall to drop the default speed and back speed limiters for repeat offenders. Start here: Take action.

FAQ

  • Q: Where did the Bay Street fatal crash happen and when? A: Police said it was around 3:12 p.m. on July 5 in Clifton on Bay Street; a motorcycle hit a Toyota making a K‑turn, and the rider later died at the hospital (amNY).
  • Q: How many people have been killed in SD 23 since 2022? A: Five people have been killed, with 2,057 crashes and 1,259 injuries recorded in the same period (NYC Open Data).
  • Q: Which vehicles are most often involved in pedestrian injuries here? A: Sedans are linked to 106 pedestrian injuries; SUVs to 70, including two pedestrian deaths. Trucks are linked to one pedestrian death (NYC Open Data).
  • Q: What did local officials do on speed enforcement? A: Sen. Jessica Scarcella‑Spanton voted no on renewing NYC’s speed cameras, while the Senate advanced S 4045 to require speed limiters for repeat speeders; she voted yes in committee (Streetsblog NYC; Open States).
  • Q: What is CrashCount? A: We’re a tool for helping hold local politicians and other actors accountable for their failure to protect you when you’re walking or cycling in NYC. We update our site constantly to provide you with up to date information on what’s happening in your neighborhood.

Citations

Geo: senate-23

Editor Evaluation

  • Overall score: 7
  • Poignancy: ✅ — Spare and unsentimental. Human impact present but restrained. Lacks a single piercing, concrete detail beyond numbers; still lands with urgency without melodrama.
  • Persuasiveness: ✅ — Clear call for lower default speeds and ISA for repeat speeders; ties local toll to policy levers. Advocacy is present but could foreground pedestrians/cyclists more than motorcyclist lead and add one stark human detail from data without s…
  • Interest: ✅ — Tight lead, punchy subheads, concrete local stats. Mix of incidents maintains pace. Could use one more vivid, data-grounded image to deepen engagement.
  • Writing quality: ✅ — Lean sentences, restrained tone, mostly shows not tells. Minimal adjectives. Subheads are specific. Flow is coherent.
  • Trustworthiness: ❌ — Most facts link to sources. Potential issues: specific crash IDs cited without deep-link; vehicle-type-to-pedestrian injury/death counts rely on dataset filtering not shown; claim that NYC now has legal power to lower default limit lacks e…
  • Recommendations:
    • Require explicit citations for any policy authority claims (e.g., NYC’s legal power to lower default speed). If no source is in context, instruct the model to omit or rephrase to “City leaders can pursue lower default speeds” without asser…
    • Instruct the model to include at least one data-grounded, human-scale detail drawn from the provided datasets or quoted sources (time, location, age) in the first 2 paragraphs, prioritizing pedestrians/cyclists over motorcyclists when avai…
    • Mandate deep links or dataset snapshots for any referenced crash IDs and summarized cross-tabs (vehicle type vs. pedestrian injuries). Add a brief parenthetical in Methods describing the exact filters used (fields and date range) and ensur…

nytimes_style

SD 23: Five dead, 1,259 hurt. The clock keeps ticking.

Just after 3:12 p.m. on July 5 on Bay Street in Clifton, a 34-year-old motorcyclist struck a Toyota making a K-turn and later died at the hospital (amNY).

He was one of 5 people killed on SD 23 streets since January 1, 2022. In the last 12 months alone, there were 2,057 crashes, injuring 1,259 and killing 5 (NYC Open Data).

Night, a corner, a child

At about 1 a.m. on August 5 at Castleton and Park Avenues, a 13-year-old on a moped hit an MTA bus and went down with a head injury. “According to the MTA, the moped went through a stop sign without stopping and hit the bus,” amNY reported. No arrests; Highway investigators are on it (amNY). ABC7 said the boy was in critical condition; the bus driver and three passengers were unhurt (ABC7).

The DMV’s own words are blunt: “The requirements to operate a moped are like those for motorcycles. You must have a driver license and register your moped” (amNY).

Hylan’s right turn trap

Hylan Boulevard has bus lanes and mixed messages. Some signs show hours. Others just say “Bus Corridor Photo.” Drivers guess. Crashes follow. Staten Island’s borough president put it plain: “That’s one accident every four days where somebody thinks they must turn from the middle lane,” he said of the pattern this year (amNY).

Ambiguity at curb level means risk at eye level. People on foot and bike pay first.

The votes and the bodies

Speed cameras work when they’re on. Still, when Albany moved to reauthorize NYC’s program in June, State Sen. Jessica Scarcella‑Spanton voted no. In the Assembly, Sam Pirozzolo voted no, too (Streetsblog NYC).

Weeks earlier, Scarcella‑Spanton voted yes in committee on S 4045, the Stop Super Speeders bill that targets repeat violators with intelligent speed assistance (Open States). The Assembly has its own version. Will Pirozzolo back it?

SD 23’s Council Member is Kamillah Hanks. The harm is in her district. The tools are on the table.

Bay Street wasn’t the only one

The Bay Street death wasn’t a fluke. An 80-year-old man died at Hylan and Benton on March 7 after an SUV hit him in the intersection (NYC Open Data). A 58-year-old pedestrian died on Targee at Pierce on May 17 after a crash that also involved a parked truck and car (NYC Open Data).

Names don’t make it into spreadsheets. The numbers do. They keep coming.

Data methods

  • Source: NYC Open Data — Motor Vehicle Collisions (Crashes, Persons, Vehicles). Filters: dates 2022‑01‑01 to 2025‑08‑25; geography: Senate District 23; modes and victim types as recorded. Metrics: counts of crashes, injuries, deaths, by age group when provided. Extracted August 25, 2025. Reproducible via the city’s crash, persons, and vehicles tables (Crashes, Persons, Vehicles).

What now

Albany can pass the repeat speeder bill. City Hall can fix signs and set safer speeds. If you live here, ask them to do it. Start here: Take action.

FAQ

  • Q: How many people have been killed in SD 23 since January 1, 2022? A: Five people were killed between January 1, 2022 and August 25, 2025, with 1,259 injured in 2,057 crashes in the last 12 months, per NYC Open Data.
  • Q: Where are some recent serious crashes in SD 23? A: Bay Street in Clifton (motorcyclist killed on July 5), Castleton and Park Avenues (13‑year‑old critically injured on August 5), and Hylan at Benton (80‑year‑old pedestrian killed on March 7), according to amNY, ABC7, and NYC Open Data.
  • Q: Which officials represent this area? A: State Sen. Jessica Scarcella‑Spanton (SD 23), Assembly Member Sam Pirozzolo (AD 63), and Council Member Kamillah Hanks (District 49), per the site’s district data.
  • Q: What safety votes did local officials take? A: Scarcella‑Spanton voted no on reauthorizing NYC’s speed‑camera program and voted yes in committee on S 4045. Pirozzolo voted no on the camera bill in the Assembly, per Streetsblog NYC and Open States.
  • Q: What is CrashCount? A: We’re a tool for helping hold local politicians and other actors accountable for their failure to protect you when you’re walking or cycling in NYC. We update our site constantly to provide you with up to date information on what’s happening in your neighborhood.

Citations

Geo: senate-23

Editor Evaluation

  • Overall score: 7
  • Poignancy: ✅ — Spare, unsentimental, lets facts carry weight. Avoids melodrama. Could add one precise, sourced detail to deepen impact.
  • Persuasiveness: ✅ — Clear through-lines (local harm, identifiable officials, concrete fixes). Strong, concise ending CTA. Could tie vulnerable users more explicitly in each section.
  • Interest: ✅ — Tight scenes and varied sections keep pace. Hylan ‘trap’ and late-night crash add narrative pull. Could use one spare human detail from sourced reporting without sentimentality.
  • Writing quality: ✅ — Muscular, spare, mostly shows not tells. Subheads are punchy. Minimal drift into abstraction. A few lines verge on editorial (“Ambiguity… People on foot and bike pay first.”).
  • Trustworthiness: ❌ — Several concerns: DMV quote is sourced via amNY, not DMV; use primary DMV link or paraphrase. Voting claims rely on Streetsblog; acceptable if context allowed, but better to add primary legislative record. District representation claim in …
  • Recommendations:
    • Require primary-source citations for all statutory/agency facts and vote records. Replace the DMV quote with a direct DMV citation and link; supplement Streetsblog vote tallies with official roll calls or bill/vote pages.
    • Constrain and standardize all time windows. Instruct the model to specify exact date ranges (e.g., “Aug 26, 2024–Aug 25, 2025”) for “last 12 months,” and include a reproducible Open Data query URL (with filters for SD 23 and dates) in cita…
    • Add a style rule: where advocacy is made, tie it to a vulnerable road user impact line sourced from the data in that section, and avoid unsourced causal language. Replace lines like “Ambiguity… people on foot and bike pay first” with sourc…

freeform_arc_streetsblog

SD 23: Five deaths. 1,259 hurt. Staten Island and South Brooklyn keep bleeding.

Just before 1 a.m. at Castleton and Park, a 13-year-old on a moped hit an MTA bus, was ejected, and suffered a head injury, police said. “The moped went through a stop sign without stopping and hit the bus,” the MTA said. amNY | ABC7

—

Crashes in SD 23 since 2022: 2,057. People hurt: 1,259. People killed: five. Serious injuries: 12. NYC Open Data

Pedestrians take the blows. SUVs killed two pedestrians here; trucks killed one. Sedans injured at least 106 pedestrians; SUVs injured 70. NYC Open Data

—

Staten Island, daylight. An 80-year-old man at Hylan and Benton. A northbound Ford SUV going straight hit him at the intersection. He died. NYC Open Data

Holiday weekend, Bay Street. A Toyota Rav4 swung a K-turn. Jeremy Claudio, 34, hit the driver door and later died at the hospital. amNY

Sheepshead Bay, evening. East 12th and Avenue Z. An MTA bus made a left and pinned an 87-year-old man under the coach. He was critical. Gothamist

—

The street tells on us. Hylan Boulevard keeps racking up right-hook wrecks tied to bus-lane confusion. “That’s one accident every four days where somebody perhaps unwittingly thinks they must turn from the middle lane,” Borough President Vito Fossella said. He added that outside the posted windows, “the bus lane is open for use.” amNY

—

Who holds the line?

State Sen. Jessica Scarcella-Spanton voted yes in committee for the Stop Super Speeders Act (S4045), which would force repeat offenders to use speed limiters. Open States

But when Albany reauthorized 24/7 school-zone speed cameras, she voted no. So did Assembly Member Sam Pirozzolo. Streetsblog NYC

Sen. Scarcella-Spanton also backed stopping congestion pricing, a move advocates say guts transit upgrades for seniors and disabled riders. amNY

Your Council Member for most of this area is Kamillah Hanks. Your Assembly Member here is Sam Pirozzolo.

—

What now

  • The Senate moved S4045. The Assembly can pass it next. S4045
  • DOT can fix Hylan’s signs and turning rules. Fossella’s own numbers say the damage is steady. amNY
  • With five dead and 1,259 injured since 2022, delay is a choice. NYC Open Data

Take one step today. Tell your reps to slow the streets and stop repeat speeders: /take_action/.

FAQ

  • Q: Where is SD 23? A: It covers parts of Staten Island and South Brooklyn, including Fort Hamilton, Coney Island–Sea Gate, Sheepshead Bay–Manhattan Beach–Gerritsen Beach, St. George–New Brighton, and more listed above.
  • Q: How many traffic deaths and injuries has SD 23 had since 2022? A: Since Jan. 1, 2022, SD 23 has recorded 2,057 crashes, 1,259 injuries, 12 serious injuries, and five deaths, per NYC Open Data.
  • Q: Who represents this area? A: Council: Kamillah Hanks (District 49). Assembly: Sam Pirozzolo (AD 63). Senate: Jessica Scarcella-Spanton (SD 23).
  • Q: What policies are on the table now? A: The Stop Super Speeders Act (S4045) advanced in the Senate; Sen. Scarcella-Spanton voted yes in committee. School-zone speed cameras were reauthorized, but she and Assembly Member Pirozzolo voted no.
  • Q: What is CrashCount? A: We’re a tool for helping hold local politicians and other actors accountable for their failure to protect you when you’re walking or cycling in NYC. We update our site constantly to provide you with up to date information on what’s happening in your neighborhood.

Citations

Geo: senate-23

Editor Evaluation

  • Overall score: 7
  • Poignancy: ✅ — Spare human impact without melodrama. Avoids victim-blaming. Lands with urgency and a concrete action.
  • Persuasiveness: ✅ — Strong accountability frame (votes, policies) and concrete local harms. Clear CTA. Could better tie citywide fixes explicitly to local stats in closing.
  • Interest: ✅ — Tight vignettes and sharp numbers keep momentum. Subheads work. Could use one more human detail drawn from sourced reports.
  • Writing quality: ✅ — Spare, direct, mostly unsentimental. Occasional flourish (“The street tells on us”) edges into editorializing.
  • Trustworthiness: ❌ — Most facts sourced. Risks: (1) “Serious injuries: 12” likely incomplete/needs precise definition; (2) Attributed MTA quote must match linked article verbatim; (3) Claim about SUVs killing two pedestrians and trucks one requires verificatio…
  • Recommendations:
    • Force exact-quote validation: require the model to only include quotes when the exact wording is present in the provided context, and to reproduce it verbatim with quotation marks and an inline link; otherwise paraphrase without quotes.
    • Require a data-audit block before writing: model must list every number it plans to use (e.g., deaths, injuries, pedestrian modality counts, “serious injuries”) with the exact dataset field names/filters (SD 23 scope) and a yes/no verifica…
    • Tighten no-inference rule for causal claims: instruct the model to avoid causal/interpretive phrasing (e.g., ‘tied to bus-lane confusion’) unless a source explicitly states causation; prefer neutral constructions that mirror the source and…