STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Since Thanksgiving, there have been more than two dozen pedestrian fatalities in New York City, including two children, according to Transportation Alternatives.

In the spirit of the “baby carriage blockades” of the 1950s and 1960s, parents with strollers, Families for Safe Streets and Transportation Alternatives gathered with parents from across the five boroughs on Saturday in Manhattan to demand safe streets in the wake of spate of pedestrian deaths.

Among the fatalities were 3-year-old Bertin DeJesus, who was in his stroller crossing 116th Street in East Harlem with his mother when he was struck and killed by a driver, and 10-year-old Srijan Panthee, who died after he was hit by a city Department of Sanitation truck in Corona, Queens, according to Transportation Alternatives and various published reports.

“In the mid-20th century, women from cities and suburbs all over America organized street blockades to demand safe conditions for children,” said Peter Norton, a professor in the Department of Engineering and Society at the University of Virginia and the author of “Fighting Traffic: The Dawn of the Motor Age in the American City.”

“New York women staged some of the biggest protests of all in East Harlem, Brooklyn and Queens. Some of the protesters pushed baby carriages, so reporters called these demonstrations ‘baby carriage blockades.’ When authorities prioritize cars they want us to forget this history and think that ‘safe’ just means ‘safe for people inside vehicles.’ But a street isn’t safe until people of all ages can walk or bike without putting their lives at risk. We have such a long way to go. So that’s why parents are coming out today, like they did decades ago,” he added.

Along with Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, Comptroller Scott Stringer, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams and several members of the New York City Council, participants called for a vote on the Reckless Driver Accountability Act, which would put consequences in place for drivers who repeatedly break the law.

“I know all too well the consequences of reckless driving. In 2006, my son Bryan was killed by a driver," said Families for Safe Streets member Fabiola Mendieta.

More than a decade later, my goddaughter Luz Gonzalez was killed by a hit-and-run driver. There are countless others across our city whose lives have been upended due to reckless driving. It’s too late for my family. It’s too late for Luz’s and Bertin’s families. But it’s not too late for the millions of families across New York. This bill needs to be passed immediately,” she added.

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