#StuckAtDOT: Weeks After Truck Slams into Concrete, Residents Are Waiting For Safety

Safety second.

The Department of Transportation has failed to fix a critical piece of pedestrian safety infrastructure in the heart of Downtown Brooklyn for a full month — including more than a week since the damage was posted widely on social media.

On or about May 3, a truck driver slammed into a pedestrian refuge island at the intersection of Flatbush and DeKalb avenues, destroying part of a cement barricade that provided safety to pedestrians stuck in the middle of the wide street.

“It should have been repaired as soon as it occurred and the delay, without an explanation, demonstrates carelessness and irresponsibility, said Mariam Adeyi, a Flatbush resident who crosses the intersection regularly.

Reporter Liam Quigley spotted the damaged in late May, the result of a crash. Streetsblog promptly amplified the reporter’s tweet, calling out the DOT for its lax response.

A DOT official, Vin Barone, responded to that May 24 tweet, “Hi there, the broken granite pieces have been removed. We’re scheduling repairs for the near future.”

On a visit to the site on June 3, Streetsblog confirmed that the debris had largely been removed, but the safety infrastructure has not been fixed, though perhaps the “near” future hasn’t come yet.

And safety is crucial at the intersection, where last year there were 23 reported crashes, injuring five pedestrians and a cyclist, according to city records. It’s also very close to the crossing of Flatbush Avenue and Tillary Street, which Spektor Law claims is “the most dangerous intersection in all of New York State.”

The DOT has long considered it a dangerous corner, given that the cement ring protecting pedestrians has been in place since at least 2011.

“I am concerned for the safety of others,” added Adeyi.

Neither the DOT and the NYPD responded to requests for comment. We will update this story if either does.