A 6-year-old boy was hit by a school bus in the Parkchester section of the Bronx when a school crossing guard wasn't replaced.
"Damn right I am. This was a very troubling situation, and I think it's one that I have to learn from," Mayor de Blasio said.
Just one day after the mayor announced a major new initiative to make city streets safer for children, a 6-year-old student at a Bronx Catholic school was struck by a school bus.
A school crossing guard had called in sick and was never replaced.
"And if someone isn't there it really does change things on the ground and we have to figure a way to create some backup there," de Blasio said.
The intersection where the child was struck, Glebe and Zerega Avenues, is well known to the city's Department of Transportation.
The stop sign couldn't be clearer, but a camera captured car after car rolls through it, and when someone does come close to stopping, the driver behind seems to get annoyed and zips around him.
Back in 2012, the DOT said the area should be designated a slow zone, with reduced speed limits and greater enforcement, and they intend to do just that, sometime in 2016.
"We need all hands on deck when it comes to speeding in this city. We need to understand that communities that were told tomorrow, time and time again, need relief today," Councilman James Vacca said.
Councilman James Vacca represents this district and is head of the transportation committee. He says there is plenty the new mayor can do right now if he's serious about making the streets safer.
"We have to look at speeding cameras, we have to look at speed bumps, we have to look at four-way stop signs and traffic lights. We have a lot of tools in the shed, and in the past several years we haven't used all those tools," Vacca said.
