A family comes together to help all New Yorkers in the wake of personal tragedy.

The Civic Center Residents Coalition reported on the passing of Stuart Gruskin in June of 2009.

We also reported on the founding of the Gruskin Family Foundation.

photo : Gothamist, Krista Ciminera

Sadly cycling blogs and bike lane advocates didn't acknowledge the passing of Mr. Gruskin, that is until his wife Nancy Gruskin turned personal tragedy into her mission - to make sure this kind of thing doesn't happen to more New Yorkers. Stuart Gruskin was struck by a cyclist going the wrong way, with no bell, no brakes, and no helmut. The cyclist worked for a catering company who, after the accident, settled with the Gruskins out of court.

Nancy Gruskin is nearly impossible to ignore these days, she initiated a dialog with Commissioner of Transportation Janette Sadik-Kahn shortly after the cyclist hit and killed her husband in 2009, to start teaching delivery men and women to be more responsible cyclists and to make sure the City was up to enforce the laws regarding safe cycling.

Sadik-Kahn, living up to her reputation as a less-than-sensitive bulldozing machine who listens only to those clutching bike helmets when speaking to her, sent a form letter response to Gruskin's request for a meeting addressed to Gruskin's late husband Stuart. The faux pas got some press, and the Commish was forced to make up for it with a meeting, who knows if she would have met with Gruskin had the snafu not occurred? City leaders have commented that they can't even get a phone call returned by Sadik-Kahn, others have been on the receiving end of a shout-fest instead of a conversation. We're sure The Great Kahn was minding her manners when confronted with a real life hero like Nancy Gruskin.

So here's three cheers for Nancy Gruskin - A NY'er of the week on NY1 News. &left;--- click here to see the video of Nancy's interview.

CBS News Reports :NYC To Start Recording Accidents Between Bikes, Pedestrians

click this link for the full story:

NYC To Start Recording Accidents Between Bikes, Pedestrians 

The Department of Transportation can't fudge the numbers any longer thanks to the hard work of Nancy Gruskin and Jack Brown . For possibly decades now the Dept. of Transportation has relied on faulty data when reporting on the the number of accidents between bicycles and pedestrians in NYC.  It's no wonder then that bike lane and cycling advocacy groups used this faulty data, without bothering to check its legitimacy,  to further their agenda regardless of impacts to small business and resident opposition.  It's dangerous when our City government relies on dubious data, it's even more dangerous when non-profit groups use that data to install permanent changes to our City streets.

Now that actual recording of bicycle on pedestrian accidents will be kept, at least while the pressure is on, seniors, children and the disabled community can begin to see hope in reclaiming their sidewalks, crosswalks and streets from ill-informed transient zealots.

NEW YORK (CBS 2) — Pedestrians hit and injured by bicycle riders – it’s a statistic that no one kept. However, after CBS 2 exposed the gap in record-keeping, New York City is moving to fill in the blanks.

In a city where pedestrians and bike riders are clashing, some advocates say something is missing in the debate – reliable injury data.

“Hard data on incidents between bicyclists and pedestrians, it’s a real missing link,” Nancy Gruskin, of the Gruskin Family Foundation, said.

Gruskin learned that the hard way after her husband, Stuart, was fatally injured by a reckless bike rider last year in Midtown.

As CBS 2 revealed in our “Bike Bedlam” reports, New York City hasn’t been collecting data on the number of pedestrians injured by bike riders.

After CBS 2 helped Gruskin get a meeting with NYC Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan, however, some progress has been made.

DOT told Gruskin the state has agreed to use motor vehicle accident forms to finally document accidents between bike riders and pedestrians.

It’s a victory for Gruskin and her bike safety foundation, but one that won’t come immediately.

The data collection won’t begin until next April, and the numbers won’t be crunched for months after that, even as the city moves forward with plans to build miles of additional dedicated bike lanes.

“I think they have an agenda, and they’re gonna push that agenda through,” Lois Carswell, of Seniors for Safety, said.

On Thursdays, the critics will call for the city to rip up the controversial bike lane on Prospect Park West. This being New York City, though, there will be a counter-protest by bike lane supporters, as the debate spins on and on.

“I’m very happy with the results of DOT’s work here,” one resident said.

While the city and state work to start collecting the injury data, bike safety advocates are working with hospitals to document the problem using emergency room reports.

NY State DMV Changing MV-104 reports to include bike on pedestrian incidents

We just heard this great news from pedestrian safety advocate Nancy Gruskin.

Hi Everyone:

Great News!  CBS-TV's Tony Aiello will be reporting on TODAY'S  news at 5:30pm (Wed. Oct. 20th)  that the State DMV will be changing their MV-104 reports as of April 2011 to include the data collection of bike on pedestrian incidents.  This change came as a direct result of the "Bike Bedlam" series where we were able to prove that there were no accurate stats of bike on pedestrian stats in New York City.  This represents a major step forward for pedestrian safety and the goals of the Foundation!!  We are still trying to work on short-term data collection as the results won't be public for at least 2 years, but this is wonderful news for the long term...

Nancy Gruskin CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE GRUSKIN FOUNDATION

DOT Says Chatham Square Redo needed 'cause it's not safe, oh really??

According to a 2004 article in the Villager newspaper Canal street is one of the most dangerous streets to cross in the City!

Hmm.... cyclists know this, pedestrians know this, CCRC knows this and I'm guessing more than one person in DOT knows about this BY NOW!

In 2008 - 2009 what's on the priority list for DOT fixes? NOT Canal street. That's going to remain as unsafe as ever. Instead $50 million dollars suddenly became available to improve Chatham Square, citing safety concerns. Chinatown leaders and businesses have been complaining about accidents on Canal St., Bowery, Alan St. for years and not much has been done.

So what's the hurry with the Chatham Square's redo if it's not even on the list of the most unsafe intersections in NYC? We keep hearing about how unsafe it is, but surely when it comes to ACTUAL accidents, ACTUAL deaths, actual suffering Canal street, Houston Street, 6th Ave., has this part of the City beat hands down.

Clearly the D.O.T. planner who did the last Chatham Square design had a great sense of humor because he left us with bicyle-ramp planters and a traffic configuration he drew on a napkin five minutes before his meeting with the contractors. I think what Chatham Square needs is a gallows from which to hang the moron who designed it the last time.

I know how dangerous Chatham Square is, I bike through it, drive through it and walk through it every single week. Thanks to the failed design we're left with, and the closing of Park Row Chatham Square can definitely use improvement, no one's arguing that the DOT screwed it up, the fact of the matter is however, that there are more accidents on Canal Street than Chatham Square. See the Villager article here.