Adi Talwar
On September 21, 2019, while riding his bicycle, Astoria resident Mario Valenzuela (14) was killed in a crash with a private sanitation truck at around 2:00 p.m. near a railroad crossing on 11th Street close to Borden Avenue in Long Island City, Queens.
Cycling advocates see promise in recent city initiatives but say they’d like to see the administration take more aggressive action overall when it comes to transforming New York’s streets.
In 2012, the NYPD began implementing ‘Operation Crew Cut,’ which doubled the number of officers in their gang unit, and recreated its ‘Criminal Group Database’ to track alleged gang members. Since then, thousands of youths and adults have been arrested accused of gang affiliation.
‘Development of Sunnyside Yards is emblematic of a broader and fraught city-building process, which is churning communities across the city and displacing working-class communities while building new neighborhoods for wealthier, whiter households.’
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