New data shows 2021 was deadliest summer for traffic deaths in NYC

NEW YORK - The summer of 2021 was the deadliest summer on New York City's streets for traffic deaths since Mayor Bill de Blasio took office, according to newly-released data.

The report, released by the non-profit organization Transportation Alternatives and Families for Safe Streets, says that 77 people were killed on the city's roads this summer between the months of June and August.

"We know that Vision Zero works. What is not working is Mayor de Blasio's implementation. Vision Zero is not failing. Mayor de Blasio is failing," said Cory Epstein, a spokesperson for Transportation Alternatives. "He has blamed the COVID-19 crisis. He has blamed Albany. He has blamed everyone but himself and really, it's a failure of his own leadership to save lives on our street. "

Transportation Alternatives lined up white strollers outside City Hall demanding the Mayor do something after a toddler in a stroller died in a wrong-way crash in Brooklyn in September.

Just Wednesday morning, an E-bike rider died after being hit by a car on the Belt Parkway. 

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While the Mayor and Police Commissioner Dermot Shea did not comment on Transportation Alternatives' report both admitted during the daily press briefing more needs to be done to keep pedestrians safe.

"The city's come a long way with Vision Zero. We've got more to do," de Blasio said. "I think there's a real challenge that needs to be addressed. No, it's not okay to go the wrong way on a street. It's not okay to drive recklessly."

"I worry more than what I step off the street at what's coming left and right and it's not cars and I think a lot of people share that view," Shea said.

Transportation Alternatives say they are now looking to the next Mayor for solutions on how to make the streets safer, which means waiting until January.