Notes regarding NYC injury data

NYC injury data is collected from a database maintained by the NYPD and made available on nycvzv.info.

All crashes are mapped to the nearest intersection. All mappable crash data is represented on the simplified NYC street model. Crashes occurring at complex intersections with multiple roadways are mapped onto a single point.

This shouldn’t have a material impact on the analysis, since most injuries occur at intersections rather than in mid-block collisions, but it is possible that a small number of the 979 injuries in the Hey Ridge analysis took place mid-block on one of the side streets leading up to 4th Avenue.

Injury and fatality crashes occurring on highways are excluded from NYC data.

Additionally, the Hey Ridge analysis excludes one injury in 2017 that took place in the vicinity of the Gowanus Expressway overpass – this is the border between the Bay Ridge and Sunset Park community boards.

For the purpose of the analysis, “Bay Ridge” and “Sunset Park” take their boundaries from Community Boards 10 and 7, respectively. This means injury data all the way up to 15th Street is included in the Sunset Park analysis, even though many of us would argue that is clearly in Park Slope. The rationale for this choice is because the Department of Transportation tends to make decisions on projects based on whether support exists from a community board, and often ends projects right at the boundary of an unsupportive board.