Penn South woman killed on Ninth Ave. and 23rd St.

Volume 1, Number 34 | The Weekly Newspaper of Chelsea | May 11 - 17, 2007

By Albert Amateau

Irene Yevelson, an elderly Penn South resident, died shortly after noon last Friday when a truck hit her as she was walking downtown across Ninth Ave. at the corner of 23rd St.

The Metropolitan Lumber truck was making a left turn from Ninth Ave. onto 23rd St. when it hit the victim. Yevelson was taken to Bellevue Hospital, where she was pronounced dead on arrival. The driver stopped and was not charged with any traffic violation in connection with the accident.

Yevelson, in her 70s and a long-time resident of the Penn South co-op, at 351 W. 24th St., was retired from her job at the federal Social Security office. The corner where she was fatally struck is notoriously dangerous, especially to residents of the Penn South co-op, where seniors are the dominant age group.

“It is Chelsea’s dead man’s curve,” said John Tepper Marlin, whose apartment on the top floor of a building on 22nd St. and Ninth Ave. overlooks the accident site. Marlin recalled an incident about 20 years ago, when four people sitting in a diner on the southwest corner of 23rd St. and Ninth Ave. were killed when a car crashed through the front window.

“There is a disconnect, where fast downtown traffic on Ninth Ave. meets slow crosstown traffic on 23rd St., and both sides are trying to make the light,” said Marlin, who noted that there is a left turn arrow on the Ninth Ave. traffic light. Drivers speed up on Ninth Ave. south of 30th St. because the worst of the tunnel traffic is over. “They then hit 23rd St. and the beginning of a residential neighborhood,” Marlin said.

Walter Mankoff, a member of the Penn South board and of Community Board 4, noted that both Penn South and the board have called on the Department of Transportation to consider re-timing traffic lights at the intersection to allow pedestrians more time to cross. “D.O.T. has told us that the traffic light timing is adequate,” Mankoff said.

“We’ve also asked the city to consider neck-downs on some of the cross streets to the north, to narrow street width and reduce speeds. The city wasn’t very receptive, but they did suggest the possibility of diagonal parking on 26th St. to reduce the width of the street. We’re waiting for the city to present the whole package of Ninth Ave. traffic proposals,” Mankoff said.

Kernan Huttick, a member of the Penn South residents’ council, said the council and the co-op board have been lobbying City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who lives in London Terrace on the northwest corner of the intersection, and State Sen. Tom Duane, a Penn South resident, to help convince D.O.T. to eliminate the turning arrow on the Ninth Ave. traffic light.

“Many people have been injured on that corner. A bicycle rider was hit by a car, and a man and his wife were also hit, ” Huttick recalled.

Quinn, who sponsored a City Council hearing two weeks ago on pedestrian safety, said, “Anytime I hear of a pedestrian death, my immediate thoughts go out to the family and friends who are left behind. Despite the fact that fatalities have gone down over the last 10 years, we need to do more to make our streets safe for pedestrians.”

Brendan Keany, general manager of Penn South, with 13 buildings from 23rd to 29th Sts. between Eighth and Ninth Aves., said that Ninth Ave. traffic at 28th, 26th, 24th and 23rd Sts. are all dangerous for residents and co-op employees. “There were at least a half a dozen accidents recently at 26th St. Two maintenance people and a painting contractor were hit there,” Keany said. “Something needs to be done.”

Transportation Alternatives, the group that advocates for pedestrians, bicycles and public mass transit, successfully campaigned recently for Leading Pedestrian Interval timing at the corner of Eighth Ave. and 23rd St. and other dangerous intersections. The L.P.I. means that all lights turn red for vehicles while allowing pedestrians time to cross, said Amy Pfeiffer, a T.A. staff member.

The L.P.I. at 23rd St. and Eighth Ave. gives pedestrians a 10-second crossing interval, while one at 20th St. and First Ave. is 25 seconds. “We hope to get the same thing for Ninth Ave. and other places like Penn South with senior populations,” Pfeiffer said. “There are serious problems at Ninth Ave. at 26th St, and Ninth at 29th St. We’re working with Tom Duane to see if we can get traffic light or a median that gives pedestrians a chance to cross safely,” she said.