Pedestrian plazas planned for 94th Street and Liberty Avenue. The elevated tracks of the A train run over Liberty Ave. Image: NYCDOT

With seven bus lines, a subway station, and major thoroughfares that are highly conducive to speeding when rush-hour subsides, this jumble of roads is a safety disaster. Between 2004 and 2008, 207 traffic injuries happened there, including three pedestrian fatalities, which makes the intersection one of the most dangerous intersections in Queens, according to DOT. 

In response, the agency is proposing to turn one block of 94th Street and one block of Liberty Avenue into pedestrian areas. Also in the plan: installing pedestrian refuge islands and new crosswalks, lengthening pedestrian crossing times, and daylighting intersections by removing the parking spots nearest to the corner. According to the Queens Chronicle, DOT plans to begin implementation in September, although CB 10's chairwoman has asked to hold off until plans for the nearby Aqueduct Race Track are finalized.

More safety improvements at the intersection of Rockaway Boulevard and Liberty Ave. Image: NYCDOT

How to change the equation? An intriguing attempt is currently unfolding in southern Queens, where, in less than a month, voters will choose a replacement for Joseph Addabbo, who left the City Council following his election to the State Senate in November.

The New York League of Conservation Voters and the Campaign for New York's Future have launched a voter education campaign devoted to transportation issues in the 32nd council district, a car-dependent area that includes Ozone Park, Broad Channel, and part of the Rockaways. "So many folks head to the polls and they think about how their candidates stand on education, or what their stance is on guns and crime," says Dan Hendrick of the NYLCV. "The objective of this campaign is to make sure that transportation and mass transit are voting issues as well."

The campaign is not endorsing a specific candidate, but drawing attention to the need for better transit service and to the area's crippling traffic. Broad Channel and Rockaway residents have been in the news lately for griping about tolls on the Cross Bay Bridge. NYLCV intends to broaden the discussion. "One of their big needs is more express bus service," said Hendrick, who envisions the campaign as a continuation of last year's public debate about congestion pricing. "Because the area is so car-dependent, [rush hour] congestion is a real problem in that district."

A local partner, the South Ozone Park Civic Association West, is helping to organize a candidates' forum next Wednesday, where voters can get their would-be council members to go on the record with a transit platform. Six candidates are in the running [PDF] (including, still, Michael Ricatto).

"We really want to heighten the sense of accountability of our elected officials," said Hendrick. "Whoever gets elected, they'll go into office knowing, 'Transit is a big priority in my district.'"

Voters in the 32nd council district go the polls on February 24. When regular City Council elections roll around later this year, Hendrick said, NYLCV plans to build on this model and ramp up transportation campaigns in more districts. "Definitely the idea here is to replicate this on a much larger scale in the fall."

A facebook page apparently belonging to Alexander Aponte. The status was updated via cell phone minutes before Aponte struck and killed Ibrihim Ahmed.

In light of the fact that driving with a suspended license carries only a perfunctory fine and seldom results in any jail time, Transportation Alternatives is calling for stiffer penalties to keep dangerous drivers off the streets, including a top-to-bottom overhaul of section 511 in the New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law.

A look at section 511-a reveals that there may be some small measure of legal recourse against the Council candidate, Michael Ricatto, whose campaign hired Aponte. It says, in effect, that if you allow someone with a suspended license to drive your vehicle -- such as a massive campaign bus -- and you should have known better, you can be held accountable. However, the meager consequences -- a maximum $500 fine and 15 days in jail for a first-time offense -- are further proof of the need for stronger penalties.

Note that drivers with suspended licenses must surrender the physical license to a court or to the DMV [PDF, page 3]. Did Ricatto's campaign even ask to see Aponte's license before letting him drive?

The Queens District Attorney's office would not comment on the possibility of charges being filed against Ricatto, saying that the investigation into the entire episode is ongoing. A spokesperson said that more serious charges may be brought against Aponte if the investigation warrants, contradicting the Daily News report, but declined to comment on what would trigger a charge of vehicular manslaughter. You would think running over a child while driving without a valid license would suffice.

The scene of the collision that killed Ibrihim Ahmed. Photo: Dennis Clark/New York Post

The vehicle that struck Ahmed, described as a motor home by the Daily News, belonged to the campaign of Michael Ricatto, a businessman running for Joseph Addabbo's vacated seat in the City Council. Behind the wheel: Alexander Aponte, a 22-year-old with a suspended license. The News cites an eyewitness who says, one can assume, that Aponte was accelerating through the intersection:

Witness Raymond Sierra, 19, said it appeared Aponte was attempting to beat the traffic light when he hit the boy, who was walking in the crosswalk.

"It looked like he was trying to make the light," said Sierra, explaining that the light had turned yellow when the motor home struck the child.

By all accounts, the intersection is a nightmare to cross. But with all due respect to the distressed Ricatto (Post sub-head: "Candidate Devastated"), the most pressing question is this: Why did his campaign allow someone without a valid license to drive this massive, dangerous vehicle?