Three more pedestrians were killed by drivers in a weekend of bloodshed that ended without any of the drivers being charged.
The carnage began shortly after noon Friday along Queens’ dangerous North Conduit Avenue. Police say Steven Aragona, 73, who lived in nearby Lynbrook, was crossing the dangerous north-south lane on Cohancy Street near the Aqueduct Casino when he was struck by the driver of a 25 Honda years, who remained at the scene.
Aragona suffered serious bodily trauma and was taken to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, where he died.
The driver’s name was not released and he was not charged, police said.
Conduit Avenue lives up to its name in many ways, and has become an expressway for cars that bypasses the often-congested Belt Parkway. Last year, there were 127 crashes in just the two miles of Conduit between Van Wyck and Cross Bay Boulevard. Those crashes injured 107 people, mostly motorcyclists, as the area has few pedestrians, city statistics show. The roadway has not been redesigned for safety.
Saturday night, the carnage continued. According to police, Domingo Dejesus, 64, was crossing Lafayette Avenue in the Bronx around 10:45 p.m. when he was hit by the 63-year-old driver of a Chevy sedan going north on Soundview Avenue .
The driver remained at the scene while Dejesus was taken to Jacobi Hospital with severe head trauma. He died, and the driver was not charged.
Soundview Avenue is another dangerous stretch of road. In 2022, there were 44 crashes in just the mile-long stretch between White Plains Road and the Bruckner Expressway. These crashes injured 15 people, including a cyclist and five pedestrians, according to city statistics. And last year, in the largest municipal district 18, there were 1,595 accidents, more than four per day, injuring 43 cyclists, 122 pedestrians and 526 motorists, more than two people injured each day.
Minutes later in Queens, a pedestrian, whose name has not been released, was struck and killed by another driver at busy 76th Street and Broadway in Elmhurst. According to police, the pedestrian was in the crosswalk when the 39-year-old driver of a 2023 BMW, who was heading south on Broadway, struck him. It’s unclear what happened, but police said the pedestrian “went down” before being hit.
He died at the scene and the driver was not charged, police said.
Broadway is a notoriously dangerous stretch of roadway. In 2018, before a dedicated bus lane was installed, 35 people, including six bicyclists and 14 pedestrians, were injured in all reported crashes on the short stretch of Broadway between Roosevelt Avenue and the Long Island Rail overpass Road. Last year there were 34 injuries, including five cyclists and 15 pedestrians. (The total number of reported crashes declined, but in 2020, the NYPD stopped responding to non-injury crashes, making comparisons with non-injury crashes moot.)
This year’s bloodshed is high compared to recent years. The following data was completed through April 10, prior to this weekend:
