The past six months have been the deadliest for traffic fatalities across the Big Apple since the launch of the Vision Zero program nearly a decade ago.
The latest data, compiled by Transportation Alternatives, shows 61 pedestrians were killed by cars during the first half of 2024 — a 27% increase over the same period last year.
Eight were killed while walking through the proposed congestion relief zone.
Twelve cyclists died after being struck by cars, a 20% uptick.
Approximately 51 drivers have been killed behind the wheel since the start of the year, a record high for New York City.
Midtown Manhattan has been the deadliest area for pedestrians, with 74 people killed since 2019.
“In the first two quarters of 2024, traffic violence killed a New Yorker every 34 hours, or 5 times a week,” reads a statement on the latest figures. “Brooklyn had its deadliest first six months since Vision Zero was adopted in 2014.”
“Our leaders are failing New Yorkers,” said Elizabeth Adams, interim co-executive director for Transportation Alternatives.
“By canceling congestion pricing, Governor Hochul has left New Yorkers behind on congested, dangerous streets,” she added.
Back in May, a 5-year-old boy mowed down by a car near a Queens playground become the 2,500th New Yorker to be killed in a traffic incident since Vision Zero was launched in 2014 by then-Mayor Bill de Blasio.
At the time, de Blasio vowed the program would eliminate fatal crashes entirely by 2024.
Transportation Alternatives said implementing congestion pricing, adding bike lanes, and daylighting more intersections — removing parking spots towards the end of roadways, improving visibility in crosswalks — must happen to reduce traffic-related deaths.
“At the current rate of fatalities, 2024 is on pace to be the deadliest year for traffic violence in the Vision Zero era, which should alarm all New Yorkers,” added Council Speaker Adrienne Adams. “This is not the direction we should be moving in, and as a city, we must not reverse the important progress we have made over the past decade to become a safer city.”