Abel Tinoco, who police said hit a 68-year-old woman after he made an illegal left-hand turn from 69th place onto Grand Avenue in Maspeth, was taken into custody by police at the scene and later charged with aggravated driving without a license. Photo by Robert Stridiron
Following the death of a 68-year-old woman on her way to play bingo in Maspeth last Saturday, area civic leaders are calling on the city to take a hard look at an intersection that residents said has long been problematic.
Angela Hurtado was fatally struck by a driver of an SUV who police said was making an illegal left turn from 69th Place onto Grand Avenue around 11 a.m. Saturday morning. The driver, Richmond Hill resident Abel Tinoco, 28, has been charged with aggravated driving without a license.
“I’ve lost count of how many near misses I’ve seen there,” said Nancy Carbone, a member of the civic organization Communities of Maspeth and Elmhurst Together. “It’s happened to me as I’m crossing the street – and also if I’m a passenger in the car. Each time we’re waiting for the light, someone always makes the illegal turn.”
Drivers on 69th Place are only permitted to turn right, but residents such as Carbone say that law is routinely flouted.
The COMET member said there are a number of different ideas being aired as to what could be done to make the intersection safer for pedestrians.
“I don’t think the current sign that’s there – the one with the left-hand turn mark, is all that obvious or visible to people,” Carbone said. “There’s just a blatant disregard for following traffic rules in general. Grand Avenue itself suffers from a lot of illegal U-turns, which makes it hazardous.”
Dmytro Fedkowskyj, a Middle Village resident who was at the scene of the accident almost immediately after it occurred, said it was a heartbreaking scenario – and one which should never have happened.
“The scene was difficult to view, and my heart went out to her as she laid unconscious on the street,” he said. “My sincere condolences to the family for their loss.”
Fedkowskyj too said the city needs to make changes at the intersection.
“It’s wider than a normal one-way street,” he said of 69th Place. “The width of the block contributes to the opportunity to making a left.”
A member of Community Board 5 – which covers the area where the accident was, Fedkowskyj said he plans on speaking to the group about advocating for a number of changes there, including extending the sidewalk with barriers, creating head-in parking, and forcing traffic to the right.
“More law enforcement would help too,” Fedkowskyj said.
The death of Hurtado, who was reportedly heading to spend time with friends at the Maspeth Bingo Hall on 69th Place, was one of four pedestrian fatalities just last weekend. Such a number is, residents said, an alarming trend throughout the city – and particularly in Queens, where the number of pedestrian deaths has climbed in recent years, according to doctors at a recent pedestrian safety convention at Elmhurst Hospital.
A little before 7 a.m. in Glen Oaks, police said a homeless man was hit and killed by an SUV driver on Union Turnpike near the Cross Island Expressway. Two pedestrians were hit and killed in Manhattan on Sunday.
By Anna Gustafson
