The intersection on 90th and West End Avenue, where Cydney Artyher was hit on Sunday.
Cydney S. Arther, the 73-year-old woman who was hit by a car on Sunday and taken to the hospital with a head injury, died on Wednesday, according to DNAinfo. Arthur was hit while crossing West End Avenue at 90th street. She did not have the walk light when she crossed; the driver stayed at the scene and will not face charges.
“Arther, who suffered a severe head injury, lived just across the street from where she was hit, police said. She had lived in her building for 40 years, according to a neighbor.
She was rushed to St. Luke’s Hospital and treated in the ICU, according to Captain Marlon Larin of the 24th Precinct. She died Wednesday at 2:27 p.m., he said.”
That makes three pedestrians who have been hit and killed on West End Avenue in the West 90’s since the start of the year. A project to make the avenue more pedestrian friendly is already underway. Read more about it here.
“A project to make the avenue more pedestrian friendly is already underway.”
We don’t need such useless projects. Pedestrians need to stop putting themselves in dangerous situations by jaywalking. Cars drive predictably; pedestrians don’t and act like they can just do whatever they want in the streets.
Cars drive predictably?? What on earth are you talking about? Yes, people jaywalk, but cars go way too fast, drivers are looking at their cells instead of at the street, cars turn INTO crosswalks where people are lawfully walking without bothering to notice if anyone’s there, cars run red lights all the time, etc etc. Honestly, all these comments blaming pedestrians only are insane.
2 of the 3 victims were in the crosswalk WITH the right-of-way. Cars do not drive predictably. They are big dangerous machines and should proceed slowly and with extreme care.
Roads the width of some major New Jersey highways (WEA, Amsterdam, Broadway) are inherently unsuitable for densely residential neighborhoods.
Manhattan: Too many people crammed into small a space.
Long overdue: Restrictions on new construction, people moving in and a major project to somehow expand and spread-out to other areas some of what is currently in Manhattan.
Seems like a miracle this island hasn’t sunk yet!
And what you are really saying is:
“Fill the moat with more alligators and raise the drawbridge! I got mine! I’m here so we don’t need anyone else!”
Are you sure you really belong in New York City? Sounds more like a suburban ‘tude!
Yes, people should be more careful but cars need to yield to pedestrians no matter what.
It was night time (nearly 8pm) and dark and she was walking WITHOUT the light.
Can’t really fault the driver in this case. Tragic, but clearly the pedestrian’s fault. People need to pay attention when walking across the street, it’s not always the car’s fault.
I agree with posters who say the pedestrians jay walk, but the cars DO need to yield. Be aware that people will be people, and will jaywalk. Their jaywalking doesn’t mean they should be punished by being hit! Why not just be a little more careful, a little more aware. It’s a big, big city, with millions of people. Believe me, it’ll cost you only a few extra seconds.
Better to lose a few moments in life than a life in a few moments.
It’s a well-documented fact that pedestrians put themselves in dangerous situations that sometimes lead to injuries and fatalities. Unless their behavior is changed such that they don’t stand in the intersections, cross mid-block, run across the street just as the light is about to change, cross diagonally just outside of the crosswalk, etc., there will continue to be pedestrian/vehicular accidents.
I drive on a regular basis and find it extremely frustrating to witness the idiotic behavior exhibited by pedestrians who want cars and bikes to adapt to their reckless behavior.
Agree with you Woody. We all are reckless and everyday illegally cross traffic and intersections and bet that it’s always going to go our way. In her case, it didn’t. Not only did she pay the ultimate price, her act of foolishness has also traumatized that driver. Quite different from the other two accidents.
This re-design in my opinion is silly and WEA residents along with other UWSers will probably regret it. it’s going to create one long clogged traffic lane of cars and illegal trucks on their streets….and NO BIKE LANE as part of the design! Stupid and an expensive mistake.
“2 of the 3 victims were in the crosswalk”. Please provide the details about the 3rd pedestrian. Also, stand on my corner (74th and Broadway) any time of day and watch all the pedestrians cross from TD Bank to Fairway against the light (and using cell phones), with no regard for cars coming at them. As a pedestrian, I would never cross against the light if a car was less than half a block away. As a driver, I can’t believe how stupid these pedestrians are. They refuse to look down the block to see if a car is coming. Honking my horn accomplishes nothing (except being given the finger, as if I am wrong, although I have the right of way). And I am certainly not speeding. These pedestrians are crossing against the light during morning rush, throughout the daytime, and into the evening after the sun goes down.
“A project to make the avenue more pedestrian friendly is already underway.”
The re-design of West End is wrong, it was a done deal before the Community Board voted on it this month, and now it’s too late to do anything about it. If you think the re-design will be the end of the pedestrian fatalities, you are in for a rude awakening. Sorry if this sounds blunt, but there are already proposals to re-design avenues in midtown, supposedly to prevent pedestrian deaths. Too bad we cannot landmark street designs…
Give details? You’re clearly not paying attention to events in our neighborhood:
Cooper and Jean both had the right of way, Cydney appears to have been crossing against the light. Those are the details.
Now, did Cydney deserve to die for making a mistake? Absolutely not.
These road designs have worked elsewhere in reducing injuries and fatalities…can you give me one good reason to assume these benefits would not apply to our neighborhood?
I absolutely agree that there is blame on both sides, but weighted far more heavily against the drivers. There are always going to be careless pedestrians proceeding without caution. However, when I drive in the city, I assume that there are going to both careless peds and drivers, and proceed with EXTREME caution, ready to stop on a dime. We live in a densely populated area and to assume that we’re all obeying the rules is dangerous. What concerns me is that a high proportion of the dead and injured are vulnerable – the elderly and children. It’s getting to the point where I would not recommend UWS as a place to retire or raise a family given the many risks. Lowering the speed limit and ENFORCING it would help, and making it illegal for a car to proceed into a crosswalk as pedestrians are crossing with the light and ENFORCING would go a long way. If people think they are being watched for arrest or ticketing they may over time change their behavior.
I agree completely with those who say the laws HAVE TO BE ENFORCED! Otherwise, they’re virtually useless. I see it on the Palisades Parkway all the time. I almost never see a patrol car. Very rare. if drivers know they’ll get a ticket, they’ll slow down. If pedestrians know they’ll be ticketed for walking against the light, they won’t do it. Cops have to be visible, and on patrol; otherwise, the laws are useless.
I was almost hit by a car this past Monday at 5:30. I was crossing with the light on WEA and 79 ST, heading west when a car careened up 79 St and made left turn so fast sharp and close I felt the breeze. He was literally inches from me and clearly had no notion that someone might be in the crosswalk. The doorman watching from across the street ran out to yell at the driver who of course had sped only to be stopped at the red light on 80 St. It was only luck that I wasn’t hit and I had no way of knowing a crazy driver was heading toward me. Please stop blaming the pedestrians. Yes, Ms. Arther should not of been crossing against the light But most of the accidents have been when pedestrians had the right of way in a cross walk and were hit by cars making turns. And either way, all the holier than thou “I would nevers” on this site are fooling themselves. We are all vulnerable to these kinds of accidents.
Is this a growing problem with tragic results or is it just being highlighted more in the media?
How will the redesign help or hurt? I do not know the details.
But it seems hard to stop without changing the behavior and mindset of both drivers and walkers.
This is so sad however, the lesson to learn is not to cross anywhere but at the intersection and clearly not to try and rush accross the street when the light isn’t in your favor. I feel badly for the elderly couple who hit this women as they did nothing wrong and I had happen to see this while walking my dog that night. It appears the women tried crossing inbetween cars and not even at the cross road..the poor elderly couple were so shaken and now have to live with what happened. I just hope this is a lesson to others when crossing the street.
As a pedestrian, I have often had the same experience as Sue and when driving often see people walking against the light forcing cars to slow down. The new traffic pattern on 96th St. and Columbus Ave. is working well by giving pedestrians and bikes a chance to cross safely by delaying left turns onto 96th St.
That is another problem The elderly at the wheel. One must assume that the elderly don’t see so well, especially at night. A younger driver may have noticed the victim.
Wow, that’s a totally ageist comment. Believe it or not there are lots of capable drivers in their 60’s and 70’s. That’s as opposed to many (not all, as THAT would be ageist) people between 17 – 35 who consistently text, talk on the phone, apply make-up and SPEED while driving. It’s a problem all way around, and hard to blame an entire category of people – peds, drivers, old, young – so let’s end that once and for all.
People n cars speed both on the streets and on the West Side Highway. All, including cabs and out of state drivers, also ignore lights as well. Police enforcement is sadly lacking; in my opinion, we need more cameras as well as the Police giving a higher priority to traffic enforcement.
As I have said before, there needs, to be a public campaign against pedestrians jaywalking (either against the light or in the middle of the block) and keeping aware when crossing the street. There needs to be a public campaign against bike riders who ride against traffic or disregard signals. And there needs to be enforcement of no commercial traffic on West End, obeying traffic signals, staying below the speed limit, and no cell phone use. Ticket everyone, and people will begin to get the message. Let the jails fill with all law breakers, and redesign every avenue in the city so there are no more accidents or fatalities.
I absolutely agree with Stuart and the others who have called for vigorous public campaigns and enforcement of existing laws against all of the forms of illegal and reckless behavior that have been mentioned: jaywalking, not yielding for pedestrians, preoccupation with one’s mobile phone while driving or while walking, etc. Whether pedestrian, motorist or bicyclist, these are actions/crimes that endanger both the one who commits them as well as others. Plus, as has been noted, even when the one acting recklessly is the only one physically harmed, there are any number of other ways in which others are inevitably harmed as well. (The police, EMT and medical personnel, all those who witnessed the scene, and, of course, all those who will miss the victim. Incidentally, these very considerations are what make the “libertarian” argument against public safety and health regulation fundamentally flawed.)
Such a campaign, I believe, should include public service announcements (PSAs) that all broadcast, cable and satellite networks would be required to air and all widely circulated publications required to print.
What about the schools? How much instruction do they provide in these areas of public safety? I would think that when it comes to pedestrian safety, at least, basic instruction and emphasis should begin by kindergarten, if not earlier. Other areas (guidelines for bicyclists and motorists) introduced as soon as appropriate and continue every year, through 12th grade and then through college as well. A thorough, comprehensive, multi-pronged program that would include exams and incentives– both positive as well as negative.
Perhaps one of the greatest obstacles to eradicating the reckless, irresponsible and dangerous behaviors in question may be the example that I am afraid far too many parents appear to be setting for their own children. Just within the last week or two, I observed incidents of both jaywalking as well as stepping out onto the street to hail a cab– all involving children accompanied with adults who appeared to be their parents. (And all, incidentally, on the very West End Avenue that is the focus of this and so many other discussions here.) And I have little doubt, I’m afraid, that just about anyone could find plenty of such incidents as well, were they to simply watch for them. Likewise when it comes to parents driving irresponsibly with their children in the car.
The driver was 87-year-old driving in Manhattan at night. Why oh why? He had no business driving at night (or during the day for that matter) As far as I am concerned that is close to criminal. I’m sure he is going to give up his license, but if he doesn’t it should be yanked. I have no sympathy for him.
And the victim should have known better than to jay-walk between cars at night.
How many deaths will it take around here before people develop brains?
I live & work on that corner, she lived in the building next to mine. And actually I was told from a reliable source who saw the accident that she was NOT walking against the light. To bad he will not come forward. Either way look twice