A week from Sunday, loved ones and local residents will gather at the intersection of Delancey and Clinton streets to remember Dashane Santana, a 12-year old girl who was killed in a traffic accident in January of 2012. After approval by Community Board 3 and the New York City Council, a portion of the north side of Delancey will be co-named “Dashane Santana Way.”
The CB3 resolution read, in part:
(Dashane’s) death crystalized the longstanding danger at this intersection… This terrible accident focused attention on taking action to improve safety for children and adults (in an area) with 10 lanes of speeding traffic… bicycles speeding off the Williamsburg Bridge (and) traffic lights that did not allow enough time for even adults to make it across (the street)… Therefore… CB3 Manhattan supports co-naming of the north side of Clinton and Delancey streets in honor of Dashane Santana to serve as a remembrance for Dashane and as a reminder to all that the lives of the children of our neighborhood are precious, and that getting people through the intersection safely is more important than expediting the muddle of traffic that moves through there.
In the fall of 2012, the city’s Department of Transportation implemented new safety measures along Delancey Street, which included creating wider pedestrian refuge areas, changing traffic patterns and lengthening “walk” signal times. Santana’s grandmother, Teresa Pedroza, led the petition campaign for the street co-naming and later became a member of Community Board 3.
Santana, a student at Castle Middle School on Henry Street, was walking with a group of friends when she was struck by the driver of a mini-van.
Since the Delancey Street tragedy, a series of other traffic deaths in New York prompted Mayor de Blasio to launch Vision Zero, a plan to reduce pedestrian fatalities. Most recently, four pedestrian deaths on the Upper West Side have focused new attention on the issue. Just today, the New York Times cited research showing that on average a pedestrian is killed or seriously injured in a traffic accident in New York every two hours.
The Dashane Santana co-naming ceremony takes place Sunday, August 3 at noon.
So sad. I called 311 at least a few times before this incident about lengthening the walk signal. I clocked it at 9 seconds to get across 6 lanes. I took videos, called, spoke to various police officers. I remember being incredibly angry to read that she was struck and killed.