Two vehicles were involved in a crash at 79th street and Amsterdam Avenue Tuesday afternoon around 3 p.m., sending one person to St. Luke’s Hospital with minor injuries, according to FDNY.
NYPD headquarters did not have details about the crash.
“From what I overheard at the scene the car on the sidewalk was hit by an unmarked police car either in pursuit of someone else or responding lights and sirens to another incident,” wrote Guy Mascioli. “The unmarked police car hit the silver car sending it out of control on to the sidewalk.”
Next month, the community board will discuss possible changes to Amsterdam Avenue intended to make the avenue safer.
Thanks to Guy Mascioli for the photos.
Fix the dang street already!
Amsterdam Ave should be reconfigured like Columbus Ave!
I couldn’t say it any better. Just fix this!
Damn bikes.
Damn UBER.
I blame Bush
De Blasio?
The plates say “T & C”.
I think all of the UWS needs enforced speed limits as well as revamped traffic and traffic light patterns. The corner of Broadway and 86 can be very difficult to cross. Also, pedestrians don’t always obey traffic signals.
Be careful what you wish for. WEA got a DOT redesign that is so complicated that no one is safe.
Most can’t even discern whether some paths are designated for cars or for pedestrians. So both think they should use the space…a design for collision.
if you’re talking about the WEA design around 95-97th, at least at 95th, which i use several times a day, it is an excellent redesign. it makes it much safer and easier for pedestrians.
Bruce, 95 Street is Great! Take a walk one block North to evaluate ALL THE CHAOS THAT HAS BEEN SHIFTED THERE. Think Bus depot, WSH sole entrance, subway entrances moved to ensure maximum contention…
I expect that you, in stark contrast to some others, will come to realize that only caring about your own little corner isn’t the best thing for us.
Enjoy the holidays.
Bruce, my reference is to 96 Street and West End Avenue:
The “traffic calming” on WEA suddenly disappears at that intersection, where cars now change lanes from one to three, making left turns and right turns, like water suddenly feed from its dam.
The left turn onto 96 is now curbside, the right turn from 96 is now curbside.
The cars, which have inched through Bway and 96 and heading for the WSH can suddenly accelerate through 96 and WEA.
What did you think was going to happen at 96 and WEA when traffic was both calmed and turns controlled at the 3 adjacent corners…
JUST READ THE STATISTICS PUBLISHED IN WSR!
where do you feel 96th is more dangerous? at W End? Broadway and 96th is much safer due to the latest redesign.
I also support the sole exit / entrance on 95th and 96th. that made the highway much safer, as there was no more weaving across traffic to get to the exits. it also made 95th and Riverside much safer. I think there are very few pedestrians on 96th near the entrance.
I cross at 96th and W End regularly and have not noticed that it is particularly chaotic nor “more” dangerous.
I don’t see how anyone can argue against the subway kiosk being an improvement. but that was in the works for a decade or more. nothing to do with Helen Rosenthal.
Bruce, if you don’t look at the series of “redesigns” over the years, you believe the illusian that Rosenthal et allare promoting. “Safer Streets”
But these redesigns DO add up. Now, in this latest patch (intended to completely avoid any responsibility for the CHAOS that’s been created on 96 Street and to fed their propoganda machine). The WEA Project made 97 St safer, and 95 St safer at the expense of 96 Street. There is no unified vision, just knee’jerk political responses to the latest casualty.
I’ll take a look when i get a chance. But the West Side Highway sole entrance had nothing to do with WEA redesign. the design on 96th and Broadway (which WAS part of Vision Zero) is also an improvement.
and the new subway entrance, which also had nothing to do with WEA redesign, is also a vast improvement for riders.
Happy Holidays to you as well.
Also, people who can’t tell whether the space on the street is for a pedestrian (i.e. crosswalks) or a car have no business being behind the wheel. It’s a completely straight road with painted crosswalks and concrete pedestrian islands. Driving 101. The most basic thing in the world is knowing that pedestrians are crossing at the intersections.
Sprinkles,
And since you prefer 2 Comments at a time, here:
You write – “It’s a completely straight road with painted crosswalks and concrete pedestrian islands.”
That was BEFORE the redesign. BEFORE the reesign it WAS simple and straightforward. Now there are lanes painted over and left-turn lanes replacing straight-through lanes.
It is NOT ‘completely straight’ now. I hope never to be crossing when you drive down your imagined straight road.
I assume then that you are volunteering to make the future condolence visits to explain to families how all that was needed was some common sense and Driving 101?
Steve,
You must know from reading my Comment that I do not believe lower West End Avenue to be safer than the northern section. Yet you attribute that to me. Why?
I’ll respond to the other part of your Comment once you have responded, because the last thing I want is to find myself in a conversation with someone putting words in to my mouth to start an arguement.
But you’re wrong on the numbers — it’s safer(by over 30%)!
Also, in case you forgot, someone was *just* killed a couple months ago on the part of WEA below the redesign — you know, the part you are saying (contra all actual evidence) is safer.
Your “gut” feeling on the safety merits of various street designs is terrible. Just terrible.
There’s nothing complicated about the WEA redesign. It’s just common sense.
Incorrect — injuries are down over 30 percent on WEA since the redesign!
Sounds like your intersection is not the highest accidents in the 24 Precinct.
Must be nice to be that correct.
But a better redesign, including bike lanes and additional pedestrian islands could have made the decrease much greater.
Have the police provided some background yet?
3 pm on a Tuesday afternoon is an awful time to send an out-of-control car onto an Amsterdam Ave sidewalk. Sounds like we got lucky no one was badly hurt. The police have strict guidelines on not putting the neighborhood in danger.
Fix the street, but I don’t think this happened at 25 mph. The cops are governed by law just like all of us. Where’s their info on how this happened?
The NYPD is governed by law just like the all of us? Why do you think activists in the thousands shut down New York City last year? The NYPD is NOT held accountable no matter how many friendly faces the 24 might put in front at community board meetings. RIP Eric Garner.
Fingers crossed I’m wrong, but “no comment, nothing to see” about a sidewalk crash the Tuesday before Christmas? The second Amsterdam Ave sidewalk crash in recent weeks? Please give some info, NYPD.
Did anyone see this? I cannot even fathom how the silver car got on the sidewalk like that, unless it was moved after the fact. It looks like it was traveling west on 79th but that can’t be right: would have taken out the bus stop sign or shelter if that were true. Miracle that only one person was hurt at this busy intersection (I won’t even cross the north side- traffic making a left from 79th, including reticulated buses, make it really anxiety-provoking).
Maybe the silver TLC car heading east on 79th street, and the other car either making the left from 79th westbound or heading north on Amsterdam? That would put all the impact to the silver car on the driver’s side like this and could’ve propelled the car onto the sidewalk.
Failure to yield, plus somebody might’ve run a red or jumped ahead of their green light. Happens way too often around here.
Amsterdam like Columbus safer? No way! As Columbus now exists the roadway is narrower. Then with diuble and triple parked delivery even more so. How then will emergency vehicles have more room to maneuver on a redesigned Amsterdam????
I walk by this intersection at least twice a day taking my child to school. The entire 79th St intersection is bad. The 79th street left turn onto Amsterdam needs to be reconfigured, as does the left turn onto westbound 79th from Amsterdam. People crossing on the east side of Amsterdam tend to ignore the crosswalk light and then are almost hit when cars sail through the intersection instead of turning left onto Amsterdam. The westbound left onto 79th in particular is bad–the walk signal to cross Amsterdam is very short and cars, as they try to make the left onto 79th either during the walk signal or before the light turns, will pull right up to or cut through crossing pedestrians.
On the UWS, we need more traffic monitoring cameras at our major intersections.
Here’s a time lapse view from one of the few, Amsterdam Avenue at 86th Street.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAWcnQ98Q7Q
Thank you for using the term “Crash” rather than “Accident”. Accident makes it sounds like these things can’t be avoided, but the truth is dangerous drivers and poorly designed roads cause this to happen.