While school crossing guards have long shepherded children across the street, the city’s traffic has become so perilous that now even grown-ups need crossing guards. Officially known as pedestrian safety managers, they are vigilant escorts across some of the city’s busiest intersections. They are not the traffic police; they cannot hand out tickets and their focus is not on keeping cars moving. They watch over everyone — especially those too distracted by texting or talking to watch out for themselves. “The traffic is overwhelming,” said Doris Garcia, 44, a mother of four from Brooklyn who supervises the pedestrian safety managers in heat, rain and snow.

Source: New York Times December 27, 2018 19:18 UTC