Safe Streets for Seniors
Safe Streets for Seniors is a pedestrian safety initiative for older New Yorkers. The Safe Streets for Seniors program studies crash data conducts outreach, and develops and implements mitigation measures to improve the safety of seniors and other pedestrians, as well as all road users in New York City.
Since launching the program in 2008, DOT has addressed senior pedestrian safety issues in 41 Senior Pedestrian Focus Areas (SPFAs) in the five boroughs. The original 25 SPFAs were selected based on the density of senior pedestrian (age 65+) crashes resulting in fatalities or severe injuries in a five-year period. In 2012-2013, DOT expanded the program to include 12 new areas. They were identified using a similar methodology as the original areas, but also involved new variables such as senior trip generators, concentrations of senior centers, and senior housing locations. In 2017, DOT added 4 new areas using the same methodology as in previous rounds. DOT evaluates pedestrian conditions in these neighborhoods from a senior's perspective and implements safety improvements, such as extending pedestrian crossing times at crosswalks to accommodate slower walking speeds, constructing pedestrian safety islands, widening curbs and medians, narrowing roadways, and installing new stop controls and signals.
Since launching the program in 2008, DOT has addressed senior pedestrian safety issues in 41 Senior Pedestrian Focus Areas in the five boroughs. Since the program began, annual senior pedestrian fatalities have decreased 17% citywide, from an average of 65 fatalities per year between 1999 and 2008 to an average of 54 fatalities between 2009 and 2018. Since 2009, 227 Street Improvement Projects (SIPs) have been implemented within the Senior Areas citywide. Download a presentation about the Safe Streets for Seniors program (pdf)
DOT receives ideas and feedback in these study areas via presentations and workshops at senior centers and community boards. We have also partnered with NYC Department for the Aging to coordinate outreach and share resources. This process is ongoing, please contact your local DOT Borough Commissioner if you have any questions.Borough Commissioner if you have any questions.
Safe Streets for Senior Focus Areas
the Bronx
- East Concourse (map, Final Report)
- Fordham-University Heights (map, presentation, photos)
- Highbridge-Lower Concourse (map)
- Kingsbridge (map)
- Mott Haven (map, presentation, final report)
- Pelham Gardens (map, presentation, , photos)
Brooklyn
- Bath Beach (map)
- Bay Ridge (map), final report)
- Bedford Stuyvesant (map)
- Bensonhurst (map, final report)
- Borough Park (map, presentation, final report, photos)
- Brighton Beach (map, presentation, photos)
- Brownsville (map)
- East Flatbush (map, Community Board 9 presentation, Community Board 17 presentation, final report)
- Flatbush (map, presentation, final report)
- Greenpoint (map, presentation, final report, photos)
- Kings Bay-Gerritsen (map, final report)
- Midwood (map, presentation, final report)
- Sheepshead Bay (map, presentation, final report)
Manhattan
- Chinatown (map, presentation, final report, photos)
- East Harlem (map, presentation, final report)
- Hamilton Heights (map, presentation, final report, photos)
- Lenox Hill-Turtle Bay (map, final report)
- Lower East Side (map, presentation, photos)
- Manhattan Valley (map)
- Midtown West (map, final report (pdf))
- Stuyvesant Town (map, )
- Upper West Side (map, presentation, final report, photos)
- Washington Heights (map, presentation, final report, photos)
- Yorkville (map, presentation, final report (pdf))
Queens
- Astoria (map, presentation, final report (pdf))
- Corona-Elmhurst (map)
- Flushing (map, presentation, photos)
- Forest Hills (map, presentation, final report)
- Jackson Heights (map, final report)
- Jamaica Hills (map, presentation, final report, photos)
- Ridgewood-Glendale (map)
- Rego Park (map, presentation, final report, photos)
- Sunnyside (map, final report)
Staten Island
- New Dorp-Hylan Boulevard (map, presentation, photos)
- South Beach (map, presentation, final report)