On Saturday morning, a Chevrolet Malibu speeding down the Manhattan Bridge crashed into a street safety advocate riding a bike and a Chinese woman named May Kwok sitting on a bench at the intersection of Canal Street and Bowery, resulting in the deaths of both individuals. Less than a day later, another out-of-control vehicle incident occurred at the same location.
The member of Manhattan’s Community Board 3, Chen Jialing, stated that the consecutive fatal accidents at the Manhattan Bridge exit have turned it into a “death trap” and urged for protective measures to be installed in the pedestrian plaza at the location to prevent similar tragedies from reoccurring.
On Monday, the police revealed that the 23-year-old female driver, Autumn Donna Ascencion Romero, was charged with multiple serious crimes including murder, manslaughter, vehicular homicide, aggravated vehicular homicide, hit and run, illegal possession of firearms, and possession of stolen property.
The blue Chevrolet Malibu she was driving was rented by her 22-year-old passenger Kennedy Lakecluff from Enterprise on June 29 and was not returned. Two 9mm handguns and a box of ammunition were found in the car’s trunk.
Romero was previously involved in a hit-and-run incident in Brooklyn in April of this year, where an Uber passenger was hit while exiting the vehicle, sustaining severe injuries to the collarbone, nose, and shoulder. Despite facing charges of hit-and-run causing injury and serious unlicensed driving, Romero was able to post bail.
Witnesses reported that on Saturday morning around 7:50 am, Romero was driving down the Manhattan Bridge section at “at least 70 miles per hour,” failed to slow down, ran a red light, and struck 55-year-old cyclist Kevin Cruickshank and 63-year-old May Kwok. The vehicle then collided with a police van before crashing into a jewelry store building about a hundred meters across the street, causing the bench and trees to scatter, resulting in the immediate deaths of Kwok and Cruickshank, with one of them being thrown a hundred meters away.
Romero and Lakecluff abandoned the car and fled the scene but were quickly apprehended after being identified by witnesses at an intersection outside. Lakecluff was detained on $300,000 bail when appearing in court on Monday, while Romero was undergoing medical examination at the hospital.
Shockingly, less than 19 hours after the Saturday incident, another accident occurred at the same intersection around 3 am on Sunday. A white sedan driven by a 25-year-old driver lost control and collided with the corner of the TD Bank building and a food truck parked on the street, resulting in minor injuries to the food truck operator, a 20-year-old man who was sent to the hospital.
The 55-year-old cyclist who tragically died on Saturday was a senior volunteer for the transportation advocacy organization “Transportation Alternatives (TA)” and was planning to ride to Coney Island for a four-hour training session in preparation for the annual “Century Ride” event.
TA mentioned that the speed limit on the Manhattan Bridge section was 35 mph, but it decreased to 20 mph upon entering the bustling walkway area of Bowery, lacking gradual transitions and deceleration measures. TA called for reducing the bridge’s speed limit to 25 mph and implementing enforcement tools like speed cameras.
Chen Jialing from Manhattan’s Community Board 3 stated that merely reducing speed is not enough to prevent accidents. The road segment is already congested during the day, and vehicles are generally limited in speed. However, due to the downhill slope of the bridge section, drivers often underestimate their speed or delay braking, especially during times with fewer vehicles (such as 7:30 am on Saturday and 3 am on Sunday), making it easier for drivers to speed and cause accidents. Therefore, “limiting bridge speed has little effect” due to the lack of physical barriers in the design.
He pointed out that although the Department of Transportation had installed ground-mounted bollards at the bridge entrances and exits, it lacked adequate defense against vehicles careening out of control. The area still requires sturdy barriers around the triangular safety islands (pedestrian plazas), such as thick steel bollards or concrete Jersey barriers, to prevent out-of-control vehicles from entering pedestrian areas.
Regarding the suggestion to install speed bumps, Chen Jialing disagreed, stating, “Because some drivers may be driving slightly faster, speed bumps could potentially launch the entire vehicle into the air, making it more dangerous.”
He recommended considering the installation of “Rumble Strips” – road surface designs with raised textures that can alert drivers to slow down through sound and vibration.
Chen Jialing mentioned that he wrote to Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine on July 21, urging for an immediate upgrade of protective facilities in the pedestrian plazas. Levine responded with support, considering it a good idea.
In fact, in July 2015, a 78-year-old Chinese elderly person was killed by a truck at the same location. In 2018, the TA Manhattan Action Committee launched the “Fix Canal” campaign, demanding a comprehensive redesign of traffic on Canal Street, but progress has been limited over the years.
The Department of Transportation had promised to present a redesign plan by 2024, but as of now, it has only stated that they are “looking forward to sharing concrete suggestions with the community within the year.”
Regarding the suggestion from some community members to install an underground passageway to divert pedestrian and vehicular traffic, Chen Jialing pointed out the complexity of Canal Street’s underground structure, covering subways, pipelines, and power facilities. In addition, its name originates from the early 19th-century “canal project” history, where it was built to drain the polluted water from the Collect Pond in Chinatown. The underground still holds a large number of historical infrastructure, posing high construction risks and making it difficult to implement.