BROOKLYN (PIX11) — A rally was held on Wednesday night demanding a traffic light be installed at an East New York intersection following a chain-reaction crash involving several cars and an MTA bus on Sunday.
City Councilman Charles Barron and members of Community Board 5 organized it.
“This did not have to happen if we simply had, what needs to be had at this site, and that’s a traffic light,” said Barron.
“I’m speaking for 180,000 people in Community Board 5: We need a traffic light, and we need it now,” said the chairperson of Community Board 5, Alice Lowman.
The intersection currently has a four-way stop sign.
Police said an unlicensed driver, 23-year-old Chandiana Jean, of Brooklyn, caused Sunday’s crash. She was arrested and released without having to post bail, according to court documents.
Fourteen people were injured in the crash, including a passenger in Jean’s car who was critically injured.
On Monday, Barron said he believed the Department of Transportation had approved a traffic light at the intersection but failed to install it, according to a city-run website. However, the DOT told PIX11 News a traffic signal was never approved.
A spokesman clarified the city website states a “signal request study” was approved. That study resulted in the four-way stop sign that was installed in October 2021.
Barron told PIX11 News regardless of the confusion over the website, he wants the traffic light installed now before another accident occurs.
Publicly available data shows that from May 2020 to May 2023, at least 14 intersection crashes resulted in 22 injuries.
