STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — A group of Staten Islanders want the city to help slow down traffic on what they say is a crash-prone road in the borough.
Several residents who live near Fingerboard Road, between Hylan Boulevard and Narrows Road South in Grasmere, are urging the New York City Department of Transportation to install more signage and get drivers to slow down before a winding, downhill section of the road.
“Slowing the traffic down here would be beneficial for everyone,” said Matt Rosenwasser, a resident of Fingerboard Road and one of the people requesting the signage.
According to Rosenwasser, the push for more signage started almost four years ago, when a car flipped over a guardrail on Fingerboard Road.
In response, Rosenwasser began installing handmade signs warning drivers to proceed slowly on the downhill curve. These signs did not survive long, as they were considered illegal postings by New York City law and usually removed.
An official sign at the intersection of Fingerboard Road and Narrows Road South warns drivers heading toward Hylan Boulevard of the upcoming curve in the road. However, while the sign advises drivers to take the curve at 15 mph, it is posted well before the curve and directly under a 25 mph speed limit sign, which Rosenwasser said he thinks sends mixed signals.
“It’s very confusing. You see a squiggly line, 15 mph and 25 mph [signs] and it’s also way before the curve,” Rosenwasser said.
The Grasmere resident explained he attempted to go through official channels and present DOT with a petition from nearby homeowners, but the transportation agency denied the request.
“[DOT] said that they did a study and that the signage is sufficient,” Rosenwasser explained.
“We’re trying to emphasize to them that the existing signage was not sufficient because we were getting all these accidents,” he continued.
Since 2019, there have been at least six motor vehicle crashes along the length of the hill on Fingerboard Road, according to NYC Crash Mapper, which uses the NYPD’s motor vehicle collision data. Three of those crashes resulted in injuries.
The most severe of these crashes came in 2022 when a car flipped onto its roof after failing to traverse the Fingerboard Road hill.
This photo from 2022 shows police at the scene after a car flipped onto the sidewalk on Fingerboard Road in Grasmere.(Advance/SILive.com | Joseph Ostapiuk)
More recently, in April of last year, a car collided with guardrails located mere feet from some of the homes that line the street.
Rosenwasser explained that the car made impact with enough force to dislodge the steel I-beams that anchor the guardrails in place. “You kind of expect that more on major highways,” he said.
These photos from April 2025 show guardrails along Fingerboard Road near Hillbrook Drive. Residents say the guardrails were damaged after a car traveling toward Hylan Boulevard hit them.(Courtesy Matt Rosenwasser)
Despite the pattern of crashes, Rosenwasser said that the DOT still denied the request for additional signage.
And as the Grasmere resident explained, residents are just asking for a handful of signs between Narrows Road South and Hillbrook Drive, which would warn drivers to start slowing down before they reached the downhill curve in the road.
“It wasn’t like we’re asking them to disrupt traffic, we’re asking for six signs,” Rosenwasser said. ”We were just mystified by it.”
Multiple signs, he said, would be to make sure the warning actually sinks in as drivers pass.
While Rosenwasser said these six signs would be the best solution, he added that residents are open to anything that could get drivers to slow down.
He said he believes things will get worse in the future.
The New York City School Construction Authority is planning to build a nearly 2,000-seat educational complex at the nearby former St. John Villa school campus, likely sending more traffic down Fingerboard Road.
According to construction projections, some school buildings will be operational before the 2029-2030 school year, with all buildings complete by 2030.
Rosenwasser said the new development could bring more traffic to the roughly 2,000-foot road that already sees a considerable number of vehicles.
“When this school opens, it’s going to be bad,” Rosenwasser said.
When asked about the situation, DOT spokesperson Will Livingston issued the following statement:
“NYC DOT understands the concerns from residents and is committed to keeping New Yorkers safe on our streets. We’ve worked in recent years to redesign Fingerboard Road, at Narrows Road North, to improve safety for everyone and cut down on reckless, speeding driving behavior.”
Livingston said that the transportation agency has looked into adding a speed camera or speed cushion in the area, but that neither are feasible at this time.
The agency spokesperson also added that DOT added safety enhancements to other parts of the Fingerboard Road corridor — at the intersection of Fingerboard and Narrows Road — to discourage speeding and improve pedestrian safety.