Image via Complex Original
Crossing the street in New York City is an art form. Most hardened New Yorkers pay little attention to cross signals -we've got shit to do, places to be - but also take extreme caution when dodging in front of lead-footed cabbies. Today, in interest of living another day in the Big Apple, we bring you The 10 Most Dangers Intersections in New York City. From uptown to downtown, we've combed the city looking for the worst of the worst.
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10. Alan Street and 1st Avenue
Anytime you have to cross seven lanes of traffic, shit can get messed up in a hurry. Alan and 1st is a precarious intersection mainly because of constant, never-ending construction projects and a 220-foot walk from curb to curb.
9. Bowery and East Houston
To successfully cross Houston street, pedestrians have to walk across one of the longest intersections in New York, roughly 210 feet curb to curb. Making matters worse, drivers think Bowery street is their own personal racetrack. This one's a doozy.
8. Broadway and W. 96th Street
Anytime crosstown buses are rolling through, shit gets crazy. Broadway and 96th street is a wild intersection encompassing pedestrian traffic from the subway, double-long crosstown buses, and cars screaming towards the West Side Highway. Avoid at all costs.
7. Park Avenue South and East 23rd Street
If you want to see what utter mayhem looks like, head over to Park S. and 23rd street. Cars are zooming in all four directions and the crosswalk is about half the size of what it should be. Watch out!
6. Lexington Ave and East 125th Street
Lex and 125th is a bit of a war zone. You've got buses headed in all four directions, a massive supermarket on one corner, the DMV on the other, and a super busy subway station. Needless to say, numerous pedestrians have been struck over the years -81 crashes with 96 injuries since 1995. Thankfully, no fatalities have been reported.
5. 8th Avenue and West 42nd Street
Anytime worlds collide you have a problem. The intersection at 8th and 42nd encompasses Times Square, The Port Authority Bus Terminal, 12 different subway lines, and globs of traffic from the Lincoln Tunnel. According to crashstat.org, there have been 200 injuries and 3 deaths involving pedestrians since 1995.
4. Delancy Street and Essex Street
Since 1995, there have been 111 pedestrian injuries - 2 fatal - at this downtown hub.
3. 2nd Avenue and 42nd Street
2nd and 42nd: The nightmare of all intersections. This is where buses, taxis, hot dog carts, raging delivery boys, old women on pumped-up scooters, can collectors with shopping carts, and steroidal bicyclists all come together. Between 2006 and 2010 there were 75 pedestrians injured while trying to cross this east side intersection. That's enough for 2nd and 42nd to get the No. 3 spot on our list.
2. 59th Street and Central Park West
If you've ever wanted to see a line of cabs barrelling towards you at breakneck speed, just head over to 59th and CPW. The problem for pedestrians is that they never know if the cars are turning into the Columbus Circle roundabout or onto CPW. What ensues is usually a frightful game of cab/pedestrian chicken.
1. Park Avenue and East 33rd Street
There have been 163 crashes involving pedestrians at Park and 33rd since 1995 - that's almost a dozen per year. The problem lies in the fact that cars emerging from the Park Ave tunnel are often not prepared to stop suddenly after several blocks of signal-free driving. Avoid this intersection at all costs or risk becoming a statistic.
