Red light for jaywalkers as New York mayor gets tough

Police have begun arresting pedestrians — including an 84-year-old man who was left with a bloodied face after they pushed him up against a wall.

New York’s new mayor Bill de Blasio has made road safety a priority and seems set to take on the city’s longstanding disrespect for the rules.

Jaywalking — walking on the road outside of a crossing or when a “Do Not Walk” sign is lit up, is a crime in New York punishable by a fine of up to $250 (£150). Tourists cite it as one of their major concerns, yet when they arrive most soon realise it is a badge of honour for the city’s residents to cross whenever they feel like it.

This appeared to change on Sunday at the junction of West 96th Street and Broadway in Manhattan, when Kang Wong was arrested for walking over a crossing when a police officer told him to stop. Witnesses claimed the elderly Korean did not understand the five officers who surrounded him, forced him against the wall, handcuffed him and hauled him away.

His furious son, who accompanied his father to hospital, summed up the feelings of many when he said: “Oh great. Beating up an 84-year-old man for jaywalking?” Emily Skeggs, 23, handed a ticket at the same spot, added: “Everyone does it. Heck, the cops do it.”

Police were targeting the area because there had been three road deaths in a week within a few blocks, including a nine-year-old boy hit by a taxi.

When Alexander Shear, 73, was knocked down and killed by a tour bus, pedestrian safety campaign group Right of Way spray-painted the location with a crime-scene style silhouette. Group member Charles Komanoff said it was to “show outrage that drivers are killing pedestrians like it’s nothing”.

After a 32-year-old woman was killed in Brooklyn when she crossed despite a “Do Not Walk” sign, police put up notices telling people they could face court if caught jaywalking. Mr de Blasio has launched the “Vision Zero” initiative to combat what he calls an “epidemic” of road deaths — 173 pedestrians last year, up from 155 in 2012 — with the aim of reducing the figure to zero.

The last attempt to stop jaywalking was in the Nineties under mayor Rudy Giuliani’s “zero tolerance” policing policy. But even officers thought it was pointless levying the $2 fine (£1.20), and were seen to stand by mockingly shouting: “Jaywalker! Jaywalker!”