Wednesday’s Headlines: Adams Blames the Victim Edition

Mayor Adams is joining his administration’s victim-blaming response to this year’s 27-percent hike in pedestrian deaths.

Pressed on what he was doing to stem the tide of pedestrian carnage on city streets, Adams on Monday pledged to take a “holistic approach” — by zeroing in on the behavior of vulnerable pedestrians killed by the drivers of multi-ton death machines.

“Yes, we put a lot of attention on the vehicles, but I was really surprised to see how many accidents we’re having because people are crossing in the middle of the street and not at the crosswalk,” Hizzoner said, according to Hell Gate.

“People are walking against the light. We need a holistic approach to safer streets, and we are focusing on doing that, because one life lost is one life too many, and that’s why we want to be focused on doing that.”

Adams’s comments followed the Department of Transportation blaming jaywalking for the pedestrian death surge in recent comments to Gothamist. In response to Hell Gate’s inquiries on Monday, DOT re-upped data — originally shared in June in response to a City Council bill to legalize jaywalking — showing that 34 percent of pedestrians killed in traffic in the last five years were crossing “mid-block or against the signal.”

Transportation Alternatives, which put out a report on Tuesday calling attention to the surging pedestrian deaths, had a pitch perfect response: “We shouldn’t be blaming pedestrians for crossing the street. We should be focused on designing our streets to make it possible for people to walk around safely,” said Interim Co-Executive Director Elizabeth Adams.

“A systemic approach that addresses structural issues like infrastructure, like street design, is how we keep people safe, and it’s proven over and over again, and it is a much better use of our city dollars.”

In other news:

• Bloomberg dove into the MTA’s “murky” post-congestion pricing fiscal outlook.
• The subway station where a 22-year-old mother died in a fall while carrying a stroller upstairs is among the 23 cut from ADA upgrades thanks to Hochul’s congestion pricing punt. (Gothamist)
• Gridlock Sam pushes back on Hochul’s assertions that congestion tolls hurt the working class. (Daily News)
• The Queens D.A. indicted the driver who fled the scene after killing a 16-year-old pedestrian. (PIX11, Daily News)
• A hit-and-run driver was arrested two months after killing a 71-year-old Brooklyn pedestrian, cops said. (Daily News, NY Post)
• The MTA is taking heat from Queens bus riders over plans to modify the Q10 bus route. (NY1)
• Mayor Adam’s Charter Revision Commission wants to put the skids on the City Council’s legislative powers. (NY Post)