Bay Ridge town hall to focus on traffic safety

NYPD brass and top transportation officials are expected to update the public on their efforts to increase safety on accident-prone streets in Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights at a town hall sponsored by Councilmember Justin Brannan on Wednesday.

Brannan has invited Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg and NYPD Insp. Dennis Fulton to speak at the town hall at P.S. 264, 371 89^th St. The forum will take place from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

U.S. Rep. Max Rose, state Sen. Andrew Gounardes and Assemblymember Mathylde Frontus are also listed as sponsors of the town hall.

Brannan, a Democrat who represents Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights and parts of Bensonhurst, urged the Department of Transportation and the NYPD to “send in the cavalry” earlier this year in the wake of the high volume of accidents in the area.

There were an astonishing 3,312 car crashes in Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights between July 1, 2017, and June 30, 2018. That’s 400 more than the average number of collisions in other Brooklyn neighborhoods during that same time period, according to Brannan.

In the course of a single day, Jan. 14, 2019, there were 17 car crashes within the confines of the 68th Precinct, police said.

“It is unacceptable to have that many crashes in one day,” said Brannan at the time.

Gounardes formed the Southern Brooklyn Pedestrian Safety Task Force to take a close look at the traffic situation and develop suggestions on how to make the streets safer.

For more information on the town hall, call Brannan’s office at 718-748-5200.