Subtle Dangers

This photo may seem like any other normal picture of New York City, but it’s actually a very hazardous area in disguise, right in front of the Flat Iron building. I pass by this area every day while going to and from school and normally I wouldn’t, nobody would give it a second thought. But the way the arrangement of cars, bikes, and pedestrians lost in their phones brews together to form a very dangerous intersection.

The road going to the right (in the perspective the picture was taken in) is a very short and leads to the next intersection very quickly. It’s one of those areas where the streets of NYC form a triangle and therefore, make some pretty unusually small streets. The issue in this picture is that because this short block of road is held by two separate sets of traffic lights, cars will often try to speed by if the light is going from yellow to red. However, the bike lane that you see in the picture is also hazardous because for some reason, many people who ride bikes think traffic lights don’t apply to them. They speed through where they can, especially this small intersection where it may seem harmless. But it ends up being really dangerous not only by the possibility of colliding with a car, but also with people. People aren’t the most attentive when crossing busy streets, for some reason, and this area is no exception. The area I’m standing on (you can see an outline of a tan area on the floor) is actually an area between the road, and a bike lane. Its function is to give some space between bikers and cars. However, its also 3 steps closer to the other side of the street, and New Yorkers will sell a limb for the sake of speed and efficiency. So I often see people try and cross onto this small tan oasis, eyes locked on their phones and bikers incoming (who in their own regards, aren’t following the traffic lights).

I’m sure there are other areas like this, maybe NYC is just a big area like this. The tension feels really fragile in a way because the density in which cars, bikes, and pedestrians exist in this small area is just asking for an accident to occur. And several feet underground, is like another world of traffic jams and crowded areas, the subways that is. It hasn’t happened while I’ve been here, and I hope it never does. But it really brings into question the effectiveness of transportation in New York (both vessels and roads). How resilient are the roads of this city are to an incoming wave of new inhabitants. Just like the picture, everything seems normal and okay, but in reality, the situation is brimming with tension with something bad just waiting to happen.