Broad Channel Article - from Capital New York

The place in New York City where you can turn left on red

BY DANA RUBINSTEIN

Capital New York

Unlike every other major city in the United States, New York City does not allow drivers to turn right on red, unless there's a sign at the intersection indicating otherwise.

But while rights on red in New York City are hard to come by, lefts on red are pretty much unheard of.

Except in Broad Channel, Queens.

W. 11th Road and Cross Bay Boulevard. Dana Rubinstein

At several intersections along Cross Bay Boulevard, the four-lane thoroughfare that runs from mainland Queens through Broad Channel to the Rockaways, drivers can, in fact, turn left on red onto two-way cross-streets, provided they stop first

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"I’ve never seen anything like this," said Joshua Schank, the president and C.E.O. of the Eno Center of Transportation, when I asked him about it.

Broadly speaking, in the United States, drivers can only turn left on red when they are turning from a one-way street onto another one-way street.

Left turns on red from two-way streets onto two-way streets are exceedingly uncommon.

Cross Bay Boulevard in Broad Channel is the only street in Queens to have them, according to Nicholas Mosquera, a spokesman for the Department of Transportation. It's not clear whether there are any others in New York City. (He had to check, and is getting back to me.)

Daniel Mundy, president of the Broad Channel Civic Association, said the signs date back more than a decade, when the Department of Transportation narrowed Cross Bay from six lanes of traffic to four, as a way to reduce speeds and make the boulevard safer.

Turning lanes were installed, but when the community asked D.O.T. to install green turn arrows, like they have at countless intersections citywide, the agency said no.

"We said, 'Why not?'" recalled Mundy on Tuesday.

"They told us the electrical supply for these old lights underground couldn’t support it," and it would cost too much money to upgrade the grid.

So the neighborhood got left-on-red signs instead.

There are reasons this sort of thing isn't all that common.

What if, for example, someone is turning onto the boulevard from a cross street and doesn't know that cars can turn left on red in the opposite direction?

"They’re just making the assumption there's not enough traffic to warrant making people wait for the green light on left," said Schank. "Maybe they're right. Or maybe it’s New York and people were doing it anyway, so they’re making it legal."

In truth, traffic is not particularly heavy on the boulevard, and according to Mosquera, "the agency has not received any complaints on the topic."

But the unusual turning rules have been cause for occasional confusion.

Mundy's daughter wrecked her first car when a vehicle running a red light smacked into her as she was making a left on red.

"Thank God she was alright," said Mundy, a fire department battalion chief and lifelong Broad Channel resident. "But afterwards, in the resulting insurance follow up, the insurance company said, 'I see here it says left on red. That’s doesn’t exist in New York City.'"

Mundy ultimately took a photo of the sign and proved his case.

And then there was that time that a passing police officer pulled Mundy over after seeing him turn left on red.

"I said, 'Did you see the sign?'" said Mundy.

He didn't get a ticket.