From the Queens Chronicle:Patricia Dolan, president of the Queens Civic Congress, was struck and killed by a car on Hillside Avenue near 198th Street in Hollis at about 7:35 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 15.
Dolan, 72, was on her way to a Community Board 8 Transportation Committee meeting at the time. She was struck by a Nissan sedan that was traveling eastbound and was taken to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead. The motorist remained at the scene.
29 comments:
I met her several times before the Urban Park Rangers Hikes through Willow Lake Preserve. In fact I just saw here briefly before one of the walks on December 5th. She was a wonderful woman and really cared about the Flushing Meadows Park and surrounding area. As far as I know she was still the President of The Flushing Meadows-Corona Park Conservancy. She joined us on one of the walks and since she had some hip trouble I had the pleasure of escorting her by the hand through some of the more difficult to navigate trails. Had a great time with some great one on one conversation with her. I will miss her. My thoughts go out to her family and friends.
That poor woman. Any news on the motorist? What was his fine? $100 ? He stayed on the scene, at least
Other reports say it was a 57-year old woman driving. I don't know the circumstances of the accident. But it was raining last night.
Looking at GoogleMaps, I don't see a traffic light or a crosswalk.
I don't get it. She wasn't killed by a car. She was killed by a driver. A car is an inanimate weapon.
When someone is shot in the head...you don't go off saying "John Smith was killed by a gun" John Smith was killed by the person who pulled the trigger.
Where's the information on the person who killed her?
A car is not a weapon, it's a mode of transportation. If the driver had left the scene, been under the influence, driving recklessly or unlicensed, she would have been charged. I am sure she feels pain and sorrow as it is without some anonymous ass calling her a murderer.
No one can match the amazing wonder of Pat Dolan.
She was the epitome of civic leader.
She was working on so many projects to help the people of Queens.
She will be missed more than any elected official in our borough.
It's called involuntary manslaughter. She killed someone and she should be held responsible. She should have points taken off her license. She should be fined.
The anonymous ass is the one who is heartless to the fact that a life was lost, and the person driving had some responsibility for it.
I also find it funny, that here are the same people asking for the head of the cyclist a few blogs back who also stayed at the scene of the crime for the woman who was put into a coma.
BTW, I also feel as if he needs to face up to some consequences.
He also - was using a bicycle not as a weapon, but as transport...Wasn't under the influence. And I'm sure he feels awful. But that was assault of some sorts.
And this is definitely involuntary manslaughter.
You obviously have no idea what constitutes involuntary manslaughter. There are two types of involuntary manslaughter statutes: criminally negligent manslaughter and unlawful act manslaughter. Criminally negligent manslaughter occurs when death results from a high degree of negligence or recklessness. So please tell me how you can come to the conclusion that this driver was acting recklessly based on the information provided in the article. It was dark, it was raining and there was no stop sign, light or crosswalk. There was an accident. The police did not have cause to arrest the driver. I feel for her family, friends and all of the communities she touched, but her death was not murder. It was an accident.
The driver does have responsibility for it. Civil action may be brought against her. That's why you need insurance to drive.
Police said the driver, a 57-year-old woman, remained at the scene and was not charged with a crime. Police are still investigating the fatal accident, but no criminality is thought to have been involved, police sources said.
Dolan was not walking in the crosswalk when she was hit, the sources added.
Read more: Devoted Queens civic leader Patricia Dolan fatally struck by car while walking to community meeting Tuesday
Pat was a very nice person and was always very supportive of me. She worked incredibly hard. I will miss her.
Pat Dolan was a pretty amazing person.
While she was one of the most ornery, sarcastic and eccentric cat-ladies I've ever met - whose sense of humor I personally enjoyed immensely - she was so, so much more.
When I started trying to protect my neighborhood in North Flushing back in 1993 by starting a civic association, Pat introduced herself - and what became the Queens Civic Congress - to me almost immediately and gave me "the talk" which explained the realpolitik that you need to wade through in order to get anything done in this city.
As I began to teach myself zoning regulations and ordinances in order to rezone North Flushing and many other areas of northeast Queens, she handed me her original application - the one that SHE wrote, not the Department of City Planning - for Kew Gardens Hills, which was the largest rezoning ever at the time (about 20 blocks in 1992).
In effect, she was the Godmother of the contextual rezoning movement that swept Queens (and much of the rest of the city) during the past decade, and I can never thank her enough for it.
Pat was also a tireless advocate for all things civic: preservation of neighborhoods by hook or by crook, including zoning, buildings and land use reform; revitalizing parkland, particularly Flushing-Meadows Corona Park which she lived next to for most of her life and was the founder of the FMCP Conservancy and other park groups; senior issues, particularly transportation which she knew more about than any person alive; and much, much more.
Her leadership and political acumen were responsible for a bunch of the good things that have happened in our borough - both publicly and privately - during the past three decades.
Pat, you will be sorely missed.
Paul Graziano
No one can match the amazing wonder of Pat Dolan.
She was the epitome of civic leader. She was working on so many projects to help the people of Queens. She will be missed more than any elected official in our borough.
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1. true ... since you have set the bar low enough.
2. my heart is out to her family and friends for any violent death is tragic.
3. interesting as the conversation on this thread seems to focus on the diver's guilt and her being a 'nice' person - says volumns about the focus of the civic culture of Queens and her place in the pantheon of urban crusaders next to people like Jane Jacobs.
4. now let's focus: what is the future of Queens Civic Congress with the second change in leadership within a year?
While it's easy to be on this blog to complain or preach or rant and rave, this woman was a grass roots leader passionate in he effort for the betterment of her community and typically beyond benefiting everyone.
Her family and neighborhood has my condolences for her loss.
Queens Civic Congress
has become a paper tiger.
Sadly now, without a good leader, it will disintegrate into pulp during the next heavy rainfall.
RIP,
Pat Dolan.
You've always tried your best.
What are
the rest of you Queensites doing
to uplift your borough?
Whenever I look at the shrubs and flowers of the traffic median on 73rd Avenue and Main Street, I know that it was a Pat Dolan production.
My fear is that the elected officials will likely put her name on a street sign and life will go on. It shouldn't. The best way to honor Dolan is to continue her work of civic activism.
As a pedestrian who was hit and dragged by a car in 2006, I can tell anyone that it is the attitude of the driver behind the wheel that counts. The driver who hit me actually tried to blame me, claiming I fell in front of her. Nothing could be further from the truth. Additionally, a friend of mine was killed by a truck while lawfully riding her bicycle in Brooklyn. Any driver who hits a pedestrian, cyclist, etc., who is behaving in a lawful manner (not jaywalking, etc.), no matter what the weather is, should be held accountable for their actions. I was trained to drive in Connecticut and the training was not the walk in the park it is today, we actually had to pay attention and give the right of way to pedestrians. The slap on the wrist New York and New Jersey dole out to drivers who commit manslaughter is not good enough to stop them and as a direct result that is why we have more and more drivers who kill innocent people.
Anon No. 14:
Let's focus on your fourth question: Who cares? Please allow for an adequate time of mourning.
Now focus on this: Why are you an insensitive, annoying troll?
There is no crosswalk at 198th and Hillside. At 72 years old, I wish she would have walked to 197th and Hillside and crossed under the light. Ive seen many close calls on that corner, because people didnt want to walk the extra block. R.I.P.
"she was not in the crosswalk". What was the victim doing when fatally hit? The speed limit is 30. It's hard to kill someone driving 30 MPH and paying attention.
Someone mentioned there's no crosswalk at the inetrsection. Crosswalks don't have to painted to be there. You can go to www.nyc.gov and look up the rules, it's there.
That said, I cross with lights because I don't trust drivers to yield when I'm right.
There is no crosswalk across Hillside Avenue at 198th Street because there are 2 turn lanes in opposite directions and no light there. There are no curb cuts in the street which is an indicator that crossing at the corner should not be done. Look it up on GoogleMaps.
Also the bus stop where she got off is at 197th Street, not 198th Street. It would have been wise to cross where the bus left her off.
Now focus on this: Why are you an insensitive, annoying troll?
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simple to respond.
look at this thread. light on her and her accomplishments, the august organization she was involved in - and heavy on examining the minutia traffic rules.
Not 'insensitive' as much as a thread that reveals the level of civic discourse in the borough of Queens.
I think the people that run this blog do a hell of a lot more than the rest of us combined to fight the unequal (and losing) battle for Queens.
Sorry but when a major civic leader of the borough tragically is killed and all we get is
1. she is a nice person (1/3 comments)
2. crosswalk safety (2/3 comments)
there is little to say
This is why I gotta get outta here.
I am outraged at the stupidity of some the posters here who could not shine Pat's shoes. She was a great lady who never thought of herself as great. She worked to improve her community and really all of Queens and NYC. She did not sit around wringing her hands or blasting elected officials. Instead she worked to educate all those with whom she was in contact. She did this through hard work and persistence and not the moronic rantings of some of those who post here. Those rantings would be silly if they weren't so stupid. I am active in the civic life in Queens for nearly three decades. Never have I seen the death of anyone affect so many as Pat's tragic and most untimely passing. If you want to improve our communities roll up your sleeves, educate yourself as she did, and get out there to meetings and write to your elected and appointed officials and realize, as she did, that it is very hard to change things. She did because she was as smart and dedicated as anyone else.
May she rest in peace.
Anon No. 27:
Exactly the point. I hope that Anon No. 25 comprehends this.
GO WITH GOD,PAT DOLAN.
i did not know you personally,but i do know the type of work that all civic activists are involved in.
this voluntary community service has many rewards for honest homeowners.
i was a active member of the UNITED CIVIC COUNCIL (an umbrella group of N.E.Queens civic associations in 1975 ). this would be pre- Queens Civic Congress.
some one has to do it,it might as well be me......
send your local civic a membership donation. the active members are really trying to improve your quality of life.SUPPORT YOUR NEIGHBORS.
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