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72-Year-Old Woman Killed By SUV Driver While Walking On Bay Ridge Sidewalk
By
Jake Offenhartz
Published Apr 16, 2021
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By
Jake Offenhartz
Published Apr 16, 2021
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A Brooklyn woman was fatally struck by an SUV driver while walking on the sidewalk outside a Bay Ridge car dealership on Thursday.
The crash, which took the life of 72-year-old Bay Ridge resident Carol Langdon, occurred on a stretch of 4th Avenue that safe streets advocates have long warned poses an outsize threat to pedestrians because of vehicles parked on the sidewalk.
According to police, Langdon was passing the Bay Ridge Volkswagen on Thursday afternoon when a 29-year-old motorist "pulled forward to exit the sidewalk" in his new 2021 Altima, fatally striking the woman.
Langdon is the 33rd pedestrian fatality citywide this year, and the fourth to die in Brooklyn this month, according to Transportation Alternatives. She was killed in a designated Safe Streets for Seniors zone, part of the de Blasio's administration's Vision Zero effort to keep older pedestrians safe from drivers.
But local residents and officials said that the Volkswagen dealership — and others along the stretch of 4th Avenue — have long used the streets and sidewalks as their personal showrooms, creating hazardous conditions for pedestrians that the city has refused to address.
"People think we're exaggerating when we talk about how invasive and how dangerous it is," Ed Yoo, a resident who has long documented the unsafe conditions along 4th Avenue, told Gothamist. "I've been standing on that sidewalk while there's cars driving past me. There's no safe way for people to walk."
Calls to 311 about the illegal use of the space are promptly closed, Yoo said.
Reached by phone, a manager at the Bay Ridge Volkswagen declined to comment on the death.
In response to complaints, Councilmember Justin Brannon has pushed for city legislation that would revoke licenses from dealerships that continue to store their inventory on the sidewalk.
“This was a fucking tragedy — a completely avoidable, if not predictable, tragedy,” Brannon, who represents Bay Ridge, told Streetsblog on Friday. “The NYPD is well aware and has spoken to these bad actors dozens of times."
Advocates said that the mayor, who has previously dismissed the issue of cars on sidewalks, was also responsible for not doing more to prevent street deaths.
Inquiries to the Mayor's Office were not immediately returned.
Tagged
vision zero
bay ridge
mayor bill de blasio
pedestrian death
Jake Offenhartz
Jake Offenhartz is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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