Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Nearly 8 people seriously injured on NYC streets daily in 2023
By
Stephen Nessen
Published Sep 11, 2023
Modified Sep 11, 2023
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Getty Images
By
Stephen Nessen
Published Sep 11, 2023
Modified Sep 11, 2023
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Correction: This story and headline have been updated to correct that Transportation Alternatives’ data collection of serious injuries covered Jan. 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023.
More than 4,200 people – or eight people on average per day – were seriously injured on New York City streets from January 2022 to June of this year, according to a new analysis examining crashes that resulted in dismemberments, fractured bones, miscarriages and permanently damaged organs.
The review of crash data by Transportation Alternatives also found people in 10 council districts with the highest poverty rates were nearly a quarter more likely to be seriously injured compared to the average district. The 10 districts with the most people of color were 15% more likely to suffer serious traffic injuries compared to the average district, according to the review.
The analysis examined injuries suffered in crashes involving cyclists, pedestrians, motorists, passengers and people on motorized bikes and scooters.
Transportation Alternatives, which advocates for safer streets and pedestrian-friendly policies, compiled the data into a searchable map.
Councilmember Selvena Brooks-Powers, who chairs the Council’s transportation committee, blames “transportation infrastructure” for forcing people to drive or ride bikes, putting them in harm’s way.
“This data is alarming but not surprising,” Brooks-Powers wrote in a statement. “Our transportation infrastructure forces those in our outer-borough and lower-income neighborhoods to be disproportionately reliant on cars and bikes, putting them at the highest odds of being in harm’s way.”
The city’s Vision Zero program, which former Mayor Bill de Blasio launched in 2014, aims to eliminate traffic deaths and injuries. Transportation Alternatives said it examined serious injuries because lawmakers and the media only focus on street safety when someone dies.
The city disputed aspects of the analysis, noting that some neighborhoods, like Midtown, typically have more office workers during the day and fewer people in the evening.
“Throughout Vision Zero, NYC DOT has worked to ensure all New Yorkers benefit from our safety projects — and we’ve seen the greatest decreases in pedestrian fatalities both in neighborhoods with high poverty rates and the highest levels of non-white residents,” wrote DOT spokesperson Mona Bruno.
She argued that the agency has focused on neighborhoods with high poverty rates and people of color through an “equity formula” that helps determine where to make street safety improvements.
So far this year, there have been 170 traffic deaths in the city. That’s 10 fewer than the same period last year. But 2023 has been a deadlier year for cyclists, with 22 killed so far, compared to 14 during the same period last year.
“Every year, traffic crashes seriously injure thousands of New Yorkers, leaving behind life-altering consequences from loss of limbs to the inability to work ever again,” Transportation Alternatives researcher Philip Miatkowski wrote. “Serious injuries are the result of decades of failed and inequitable policy decisions that prioritize cars over people and leave behind our most vulnerable.”
The data shows that in the first six months of the year on average, 15 pedestrians, seven cyclists and 27 drivers were seriously injured in crashes each week.
Manhattan leads the boroughs with the most pedestrians injured in the first six months of the year, with 289. Brooklyn had the most cyclists injured during the same period at 204. And Queens had the most motorists injured at 567.
Councilmember Lincoln Restler represents Brooklyn neighborhoods where 36 pedestrians, 24 cyclists and 41 motorists were injured in the first half of the year. Transportation Alternatives found that his district had the most traffic injuries in the city.
“New York City is on pace for one of the deadliest years for bike riders in recent history, but it doesn't have to be this way,” Restler wrote in an email. “We know what needs to be done to prevent traffic violence, and it's far past time for the Adams administration to prioritize and expedite proven solutions that will save lives, especially the swift implementation of a truly protected network of bike lanes.”
Tagged
new york city
transportation
Stephen Nessen
Stephen Nessen covers transportation. Since 2008 he has reported on everything from Occupy Wall Street, the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site, Hurricane Sandy, to Trump’s campaign for president. His transportation reporting has taken him everywhere from the MTA’s secret Rail Control Center to the gleaming subways of Seoul. Got a tip? Email [email protected].
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Bronx man wakes up to a $39K nightmare after online meetup at hotel, NYPD says
Police say a man fell asleep and woke up to find his cash, car and phone missing.
By
Charles Lane
Published Nov 4, 2026 at 4:43 p.m. ET
Brace for bus and bike lane boom following NYC ballot approval
Supporters and foes of street safety projects agree that more of them are now on the horizon.
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
News
Brace for bus and bike lane boom following NYC ballot approval
Supporters and foes of street safety projects agree that more of them are now on the horizon.
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
NY appeals court strikes down Nassau County's ban on transgender athletes
By
Giulia Heyward
4 takeaways after Democrats’ big night in New York
By
Walter Wuthmann
and
Elizabeth Kim
NYC wins court fight over rollout of pied-à-terre tax on luxury second homes
By
Giulia Heyward
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .