Park Ave Fatality in '04 unrelated to Crash Barrier Issue
Reader comment on: Longtime Residents Oppose Park Avenue Median

Submitted by NY1Writer, Jan 4, 2007 17:32

Reporter Annie Karni failed to report that the girl fiance' of the man who was killed in 2004 at 96th Street and Park Avenue attended the Community Board committee meeting last night. While she made an impassioned appeal for support of Glenn McAnanama's proposal for crash barriers, she also stated that her boyfriend was struck in the street, not on the median strip -- and the presence of a barrier would therefore have made no difference.

I commend her for courageously reliving a very sad memory in the interests of safety. I also bemoan Glenn McAnanama's putting her though this painful retelling when he knew, or should have known, that her loss was unrelated to the issue he was pushing. Instead of exploiting the young woman's pain, he would have been better served by providing statistics to show a need for crash barriers on Park Avenue median strips.

He pointed to the barriers installed on the median strips along Broadway, while failing to note that the wider Broadway medians contain benches installed by the Parks Dep't. to encourage the public to relax on the median strips, which are considered Parks Dep't. facilities.

All attendees agreed that safety was paramount. Aesthetics did not trump safety. Facts trumped fears.

NY1WRITER

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