The deaths of two people in hit-and-run car crashes along Brooklyn’s Linden Boulevard last month have led a local councilmember to declare the notorious stretch the city’s new “Boulevard of Death.”

Zachariah Padilla, 4, was run down on March 5 by a driver on Rockaway Parkway outside of Brookdale Hospital, just north of Linden Boulevard in East New York. A few blocks away and two days later, a man standing on the busy boulevard died after he was struck by a driver and run over by a second one. Police have still not released his identity.

The deaths served as grim reminders to locals about the danger of the 6-mile stretch of Linden Boulevard from Flatbush to Ozone Park. The eight-lane thoroughfare is a playground for speeding and reckless drivers. Seven other people have died and hundreds have been injured in car crashes on or near the street since 2021, city data shows.

“They’re always freaking speeding on Linden Boulevard,” said Nicole Denny, a home health aide who said she walks near the stretch where Padilla was killed almost daily. “It’s sad that a little kid had to lose his life because of someone speeding.”

“You have to be very careful on Linden because the traffic is horrible,” she added. “They’re always speeding. They don’t think about people.”

Denny said she wants city officials to intervene to prevent future deaths.

Councilmember Chris Banks demanded the transportation department conduct a full study of the corridor, and make design changes to reduce deaths.

“We are calling it the new ‘Boulevard of Death,’” he said. Street safety advocates previously gave that moniker to Queens Boulevard, which was one of the city’s most dangerous streets until the Department of Transportation implemented an aggressive redesign that added protected bike lanes, pedestrian islands and lower speed limits.

Two years ago, Gothamist found that Atlantic Avenue was more deserving of the “Boulevard of Death” nickname than its Queens counterpart. Between 2014 and 2024, 10 people were killed in traffic on Atlantic Avenue. But Linden Boulevard has seen nearly as many deaths in a shorter period of time.

Alexa Sledge, a spokesperson for the advocacy group Transportation Alternatives, said Linden is the fifth most dangerous street for pedestrians in Brooklyn, by her group’s accounting. She said at least 60 people have been seriously injured in car crashes on the street since 2022.

“We absolutely support any efforts to improve safety on Linden Boulevard, and we know basic but critical safety infrastructure will save lives here,” Sledge said.

Banks pointed to another dangerous intersection on Linden Boulevard at Ashford Street, where a 36-year-old pedestrian was killed by a driver while walking in March 2024. In January, 68-year-old Elvin Sanchez was killed by a hit-and-run driver while he was crossing the street at the same intersection.

In 2025, transportation officials said, the city logged the fewest traffic deaths it had ever recorded in a calendar year. But Linden Boulevard, which has seen two deaths so far this year, is bucking that trend.

“NYC DOT worked over the course of Vision Zero to improve safety on Linden Boulevard through improvements to help reduce instances of speeding, shorten the crossing distances for pedestrians, and allow safer and simpler turns,” DOT spokesperson Mona Bruno wrote in a statement, referring to the city’s program aimed at reducing fatal car crashes.

“These tragedies are a reminder why our Vision Zero efforts are so important, and we will continue to make upgrades along the boulevard to help protect the lives of everyone who uses it,” Bruno added.

Transportation officials said the agency implemented a number of improvements on Linden Boulevard between Kings Highway and 78th Street from 2016 to 2022. A major bus priority and safety project will be introduced later this year as part of plans to upgrade the nearby neighborhood known as The Hole.

The street is so bad that many pedestrians avoid it entirely.

For Dylan Simon, a barber who lives in the area, that was part of the appeal. Simon said he often drives on the street — and was wary of any new safety improvements, saying they might make life more expensive for drivers.

“In one sense, it’s good, but in another sense, I see like a lot of tickets coming to us, man,” he said. “They’re trying to get us out of cars.”

An NYPD spokesperson said that the street runs through three police precincts, and that its design encourages higher speeds. Police officials said that cops issued more than 1,600 moving violations to drivers on Linden Boulevard in February alone, and that officers are still looking for the drivers in both hit-and-run incidents.

Charles Barron, a former councilmember who represented the area where Padilla was killed, was the victim of a car crash on Linden Boulevard. In 2008, he was in a car that was struck by a fire truck.

“It’s a dangerous place. It needs attention,” he said.

Barron said the city should add more crossing guards around schools on Linden Boulevard to make things safer.

“It’s really bad and I was fortunate, but there’s too many people who are not fortunate,” he said.