Parents, advocates push for mayor to restore funding for NYC's crossing guards
The Brooklyn Street Safety Coalition gathered at the intersection of Myrtle and North Portland avenues Thursday morning to shed light on the issue.
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Concerned parents and advocates are pushing for Mayor Eric Adams to restore funding for New York City's crossing guards.
The Brooklyn Street Safety Coalition gathered at the intersection of Myrtle and North Portland avenues Thursday morning to shed light on the issue. They claim the city cut funding to crossing guards by 18% last summer.
The rally comes two months after a 7-year-old boy was struck by an NYPD tow truck and killed at the intersection. The coalition says no crossing guards were there at the time. Had they been, they believe the tragedy could have prevented.
"This accident was completely preventable, and had there been crossing guards here, just had it been the status quo and not lost funding, this wouldn't have happened," said a concerned parent.
To grab the mayor's attention, they placed cardboard cut-outs of crossing guards at the intersection. On the cut-outs, they put QR codes that take people to a petition along with the job application to be a crossing guard.
"We desperately need crossing guards in order to prevent something like this from happening again. It's so heartbreaking," said Cynthia McKnight, the president of CEC 13.
News 12 has reached out to the mayor's office about the budget cuts affecting crossing guards and is waiting to hear back.
