By New York Post (U.S.) | Created at 2025-04-01 22:48:56 | Updated at 2025-04-03 02:19:18
1 day ago
Ocean Parkway has been a dangerous drag where speeding motorists showed little regard for pedestrians — even before wacky wigmaker Miriam Yarimi allegedly mowed down three people this weekend, locals told The Post.
The Brooklyn traffic artery is among the most dangerous roads in the borough, with 20 deaths since 2014 — and activists have long pushed to lower its speed limit and take other safety precautions.
Neighborhood mom Sofia Khavin, 36, frequently walks with her nine-month-old son near Ocean Parkway’s intersection with Quentin Road, where Yarimi allegedly plowed into another woman and her two young children.
“We just happened to be at a different place on Saturday,” she said. “When we learned about the accident, we were horrified. It really hit close. I cross there all the time with my baby.
“They (drivers) go faster than 25 mph,” Khavin added. “They run the red light, they make illegal turns. There are no cameras at this corner.”
The crash unfolded when Yarimi, 32, allegedly rocketed her Audi A4 across the intersection and into an Uber.
Yarimi’s luxury sedan careened into a group of pedestrians, including mom Natasha Saada and her three children — Diana, 7, Deborah, 5, and 4-year-old Philip. All were killed but Philip, who remains in critical condition.
The wigmaker — who told first responders she “had the devil in me,” sources said — is undergoing a psychiatric evaluation before she will be arraigned on charges of manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and assault.
Since the crash, advocates and lawmakers have pushed a proposed law forcing bad drivers such as Yarimi, who had a suspended license and 93 traffic violations, to install tech on their cars that would stop them from going faster than 5 mph above the speed limit.
“If Albany had passed this bill last year, it could have already saved three lives,” said Ben Furnas, executive director for Transportation Alternatives, a street safety advocacy group.
But Furnas also turned attention toward Ocean Parkway itself, calling it a “wide and dangerous road plagued by super speeders.”
The 5-mile road cutting through south Brooklyn has long been considered treacherous.
Beyond the 20 traffic fatalities in the past decade, crashes have caused nearly 2,400 injuries since 2012, city data shows.
By contrast, nearby Ocean Avenue saw seven deaths and 1,710 injuries during the same span, data shows.
And notoriously troubled Queens Boulevard — known as the “Boulevard of Death” — saw 22 killed and nearly 3,100 injuries since 2012.
The city’s “Vision Zero” traffic safety push did bring some safety changes to Ocean Parkway. Those included lowering the speed to 25 mph a decade ago and installing speed and red light cameras at various locations, city Department of Transportation officials said.
But the street is still considered the 19th most dangerous road in Brooklyn for pedestrians, according to Transportation Alternatives.
Sandy Lee, a manager at European Wax Center near the recent crash, said she’s always afraid to drive her three children along the road because of other motorists speeding.
“They do have lots of speed cameras but people slow down and then sped up again until they get to the next camera,” she said.
“I am not surprised it happened but I’m surprised at how it happened, so many lives lost,” she said about the crash. “Fender-bender, running a red light — I’ve seen. But something of this magnitude, it’s very sad.”
A mobile NYPD command post since the crash has been erected near the intersection, where traffic cops have been handing out safety pamphlets to locals.
And a memorial started by retired teacher Stephanie Benshimol, 46, has sprouted at the base of a nearby tree, where well-wishers have deposited flowers, balloons and teddy bears.
“There is constantly somebody dying in Ocean Parkway because people don’t obey the laws,” Benshimol said.
“I think 25 (mph) is pretty good, but if they want to lower it to 20 (mph) on such a busy street then perhaps they should,” she said, adding, “but a camera is just a ticket.”
Mayor Eric Adams, when asked Tuesday about using a new law to lower the speed limit to 20 mph, signaled openness to the idea.
City DOT officials, however, noted other changes such as speed and red light cameras must be done with New York State’s transportation department, “as Ocean Parkway is a state road.”
State Sen. Simcha Felder, who recently won a special election for a vacant City Council seat covering the crash area, had previously opposed efforts to lower the speed limit to 25 mph along Ocean Parkway.
He even proposed raising it to 35 mph, the New York Times reported.
Felder, in a tweet, appeared to dismiss any push for change at the troubled thoroughfare.
“Some have wasted no time using this tragedy as an opportunity to advance their agenda,” he wrote. “There is a time to act—but there is also a time to mourn, to come together in grief, and to offer strength and support to those who need it most.”
