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Nine-member panel that addressed residents during the town hall meeting held on Wednesday in Curtis High School in St. George. Members listed to residents' recommendations on Mayor Bill de Blasio's Vision Zero, which aims to put an end to traffic deaths in the city. North Shore City Councilwoman Debi Rose is second from the right.

(Staten Island Advance/Kiawana Rich)

DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg speaks during the town hall meeting held on Wednesday in Curtis High School in St. George on Mayor Bill de Blasioas Vision Zero, which aims to put an end to traffic deaths in the city.

Power point presentation that was part of the town hall meeting held on Wednesday in Curtis High School in St. George, where members of the public provided their recommendations for Mayor Bill de Blasioas Vision Zero, which aims to put an end to traffic deaths in the city.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Staten Islanders came out to share with city officials their recommendations and concerns to help stem speeding and traffic deaths citywide by lending their voices to Mayor Bill de Blasio's ambitious "Vision Zero" initiative.

Over 100 residents spent Wednesday evening at Curtis High School in St. George sharing their concerns with a nine-member panel of city officials that included North Shore City Councilwoman Debi Rose and DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg, Island DOT Commissioner Tom Cocola and Taxi and Limousine Commission head Meera Joshi.

The citywide town hall meetings are allowing residents to voice their opinions and recommendations for the initiative which aims to end pedestrian deaths in the city.

Event chair and City Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez said that just from information gathered from the public so far, five or six bills will soon go before the City Council. "Your ideas, your suggestions are very important," he said. "We need to know from the community what are the areas that need improvement."

"It is illegal to speed, it is illegal to text while driving. These behaviors lead to traffic deaths that are not just statistics but lives that are tragically cut short," said Ms. Rose.

Vision Zero's 63-point plan calls for items such as increased traffic measures including more red light cameras, traffic calming and slowing devices, clearer street markings, education and more enforcement. The city DOT will partner with the NYPD and the Taxi and Limousine Commission to make the program a success.

Commissioner Trottenberg noted that several projects have already helped make it easier for pedestrian crossing, improved visibility and traffic slowing. Overall, the projects, she said, "have reduced traffic fatalities across the city by 20-88 percent city wide."

For residents, many concerns focused on serious speeding problems in residential areas. Others stressed drivers often have little regard for road rules, as well as children, seniors, pedestrians, and bike riders. Still others noted some traffic measures don't work because drivers pay no attention to them.

Daniel Icolari of Transportation Alternatives, said he was pleased Vision Zero would work to changing the mindset and culture of driving in the city. He said on the Island the mindset is, "cars are supreme and pedestrians are an afterthought if they are a thought at all."

Linda Cohen talked about the Oakdale Street. She said the wide residential street has many one- and two-family homes and lots of children, "but it's a speedway during rush hour and people drive over 40 miles per hours.

"I don't want to impede on the flow of traffic, but it shouldn't come at the expense of the safety of residents," she said.

Amerika Grewal of Grymes Hill complained about Howard Avenue, where she said speeding is so bad a Wagner College student college was killed and transportation options limited. "Slower streets are good for children, good for our neighborhood, good for everybody," she said.