Locals had been begging the city for years to install traffic calming measures on the busy Queens street where a teenaged boy was struck and killed by a car earlier this week, officials said today.
It’s unclear if the improvements requested could have saved the life of 16 year old Tenzin Drudak — who was killed by an allegedly distracted driver — but community members say his death highlights the dangerous conditions on Thomson Avenue in Long Island City.
“It is impossible not to spend any amount of time here and not think it could be safer,” said City Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer.
“Its a ticking time bomb.”
The cluttered stretch — which features several schools, a public library and the busy 33rd Street subway station — feeds into the Queensboro Bridge.
Community Board 2 and Van Bramer had both asked the city to consider safety improvements. And over the summer, hundreds of LaGuardia Community College students had signed a petition asking the Department of Transportation to adjust the crossing signals.
The students claimed the signals didn’t give enough time for pedestrians to cross, but the city in response said that timing was adequate.
A spokesman for the DOT said they have been considering safety improvements on Thomson, including sidewalk extensions.
Drudak was walking on the sidewalk when he was struck by a careening van.
The driver told cops he lost control after he reached for a carton of milk he dropped, sources said.
He was ticketed for driving without insurance, cops said.
Friends said Drudak was a fashionable dresser who enjoyed basketball and rap music.
jennifer.fermino@nypost.com
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