Civic leaders, parents and other residents devastated by the tragic death of an 8-year-old, who was killed after being struck by a tractor-trailer while walking to his Woodside elementary school last Friday, held a vigil at the site of the accident Sunday night to demand safer traffic conditions – in the west Queens neighborhood and throughout a borough they said is plagued by pedestrian deaths.
Noshat Nahian, a third grade student at PS 152, was walking with his 11-year-old sister when an allegedly unlicensed driver struck and killed him at the intersection of Northern Boulevard and 61st Street Friday morning, according to police.
Mauricio Osorio-Palominos, 51, of Newark, was arrested and charged with aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle and operation a vehicle in violation of safety rules, according to the NYPD.
The two siblings were just half a block from the school when the 8-year-old, who was reportedly carrying a present for his teacher, was hit, officials said.
Individuals attending Sunday’s vigil, including representatives from Make Queens Safer and Woodside on the Move, as well as Council Members Jimmy Van Bramer (D-Sunnyside) and Danny Dromm (D-Jackson Heights) and state Sen. Jose Peralta (D-East Elmhurst), called for the NYPD to enforce existing traffic laws, the city Department of Transportation to expedite the installation of 20 mile-per-hour speed limits and traffic calming infrastructure to protect pedestrians, and for the city to involve community members in changing laws and increasing local action to save pedestrian lives.
Those at the rally stressed that, according to November data from the NYPD, the 108th Precinct – which covers the area where the 8-year-old was hit – wrote 58 tickets for unlicensed operators and 33 for not giving the right of way to pedestrians. Overall, more than 600 people were involved in collisions in the 108th Precinct in October, according to city data.
“All streets, including Northern Boulevard, must be safe and livable, and no child should ever die simply trying to cross the street on his way to school,” Van Bramer said. “We have much work to do.”
U.S. Rep. Joseph Crowley’s (D-Queens, Bronx) press secretary, Alex Flores, agreed.
“I am writing to express how saddened and heartbroken we all are to learn of the tragedy that took place yesterday in Woodside when a child was hit by a tractor-trailer on Northern Boulevard,” Flores said in a statement. “Congressman Crowley joins the rest of our community in mourning this loss and shares his deepest sympathies with the family.”
Borough President Helen Marshall too expressed sympathies for the family and noted that Noshat’s death comes almost one year after 11-year-old Miguel Torres was struck and killed by a dump truck while crossing the street at the intersection of 80th Street and Northern Boulevard in Jackson Heights on Dec. 28, 2012. It also comes after Elmhurst Hospital held a summit on pedestrian safety, during which doctors reported the medical facility handled 296 pedestrian injury cases in 2012 – its largest such caseload in a decade and 21 more cases than it handled in 2011.
“I hope all the officials responsible for ensuring the safety of child pedestrians take the results of this investigation, and the investigation of Miguel’s death, into full account as they determine whether any additional traffic safety measures should be implemented in Queens, especially along Northern Boulevard,” Marshall said in a prepared statement. “The protection of pedestrians, especially child pedestrians, should be of paramount concern to policymakers.”
By Anna Gustafson
