Brad Aaron
Brad Aaron began writing for Streetsblog in 2007, after years as a reporter, editor, and publisher in the alternative weekly business. Brad adopted New York's dysfunctional traffic justice system as his primary beat for Streetsblog. He lives in Manhattan.
Recent Posts
DA Robert Johnson: No Charges for Driver Who Killed Child on Bronx Sidewalk
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Bronx District Attorney Robert Johnson filed no charges against a motorist who drove on a sidewalk outside a Bronx school in October, striking 10 people and killing 8-year-old Rylee Ramos. New York City motorists have killed at least eight children age 14 and under in 2014 — one in the Bronx, two in Manhattan, and […]
Vance Deal: $400 Fine for Unlicensed Driver Who Killed Senior in Crosswalk
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An unlicensed driver who fatally struck a senior as she crossed the street with the right of way will pay a $400 fine, pursuant to a plea arrangement with Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance. Keiko Ohnishi was walking with a cane across Madison Avenue at E. 98th Street on September 4 at around 9:47 a.m. […]
Does Cy Vance Use His Surveillance Camera Bank to Fight Traffic Violence?
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In New York City, if you hit someone with a motor vehicle and keep driving, odds are you will get away with it. NYPD made arrests in just 25 percent of fatal hit-and-run crashes in 2012, according to Transportation Alternatives. And in many cases where the driver is eventually identified, a simple “I didn’t see […]
Driver With Revoked License Not Charged for Killing East Flatbush Senior
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A driver with a revoked license killed a senior in Brooklyn Tuesday. As of Wednesday he was not charged by NYPD or District Attorney Ken Thompson for causing a death. The crash occurred in the 67th Precinct, where motorists have killed at least three pedestrians this year, and at least seven pedestrians since January 2013. […]
New MTA Victim-Blaming Campaign Is the Opposite of Vision Zero
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The MTA has released an amazingly tone-deaf series of public service announcements blaming pedestrians and cyclists for being run over by bus drivers. “The new PSAs, which will air on local broadcast television stations in both English and Spanish, bring the print campaign to life by demonstrating the dangers of walking or cycling while distracted […]
Long Island Pols Backtrack on Speed Cams, Play Politics With People’s Lives
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With a presumed re-election bid coming in 2015, Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone has determined his political career is more important than people’s safety. Bowing to people who believe they should be able to do whatever they want behind the wheel, Bellone has joined other Suffolk and Nassau lawmakers in opposing school zone speed cameras, […]
Cy Vance Files Homicide Charge in Lower East Side Pedestrian Death
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Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance filed a homicide charge against a driver accused of killing a pedestrian on the Lower East Side in November. On the evening of November 24, the driver of a BMW sedan hit 57-year-old Robert Perry on the Bowery near Rivington Street, and kept driving until he hit a fire hydrant […]
Teen Driver Kills Senior on Street With No Sidewalks, NYPD Blames Victim
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A teenage driver ran over a senior on a street with no sidewalks Sunday, and NYPD cast blame on the victim. The crash occurred in a police precinct where motorists have killed at least three pedestrians in 2014. At around 3 p.m. yesterday, 84-year-old Ignascio Andal was walking westbound on Wicklow Place when a 17-year-old […]
Dana Lerner: Cy Vance Botched the Token Case Against My Son’s Killer
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The cab driver who killed Cooper Stock is scheduled to be back in court in two months, thanks to what Stock’s mother Dana Lerner termed “inept” handling of the case by Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance’s office. Meanwhile, Koffi Komlani’s apparent defense — that weather was to blame for the crash — is the same […]
NYPD: 1,399 Pedestrians and Cyclists Injured, 16 Killed in Traffic in October
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Twenty people were killed in New York City traffic in October, and 4,692 were injured, according to the latest NYPD crash data report [PDF]. As of the end of October, 124 pedestrians and cyclists were reported killed by city motorists this year, and 12,228 injured, compared to 135 deaths and 13,310 injuries for the same […]
Families for Safe Streets to Call on DAs to Prosecute Reckless Drivers
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Update: Sunday’s event has been postponed, according to a TA press release, “in solidarity with those protesting the grand jury decision not to indict in the Eric Garner case.” The cab driver who killed 9-year-old Cooper Stock is scheduled to appear in court Friday. Koffi Komlani was issued two traffic tickets, but unlike most drivers […]
For Traffic Violence Victims, Cy Vance’s “Moneyball” Still a Field of Dreams
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You won’t find much discussion of traffic violence in Chip Brown’s 5,500-word encomium to Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance, published Wednesday by the New York Times Magazine. Other than noting that dismissals of drunk driving cases are down, according to Vance’s office, Brown doesn’t broach the subject at all. To rein in gang violence and other street-level […]