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Hit-And-Run Driver Kills 4-Year-Old, Critically Injures 6-Year-Old In Bensonhurst
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Jan 4, 2021
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Christopher Robbins
Published Jan 4, 2021
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A hit-and-run driver killed a 4-year-old and critically injured a 6-year-old outside a Brooklyn yeshiva on Monday morning.
According to the NYPD, shortly before 9:30 a.m. police responded to 911 calls about two children who were severely injured on the street outside of Yeshiva Ketana of Bensonhurst, on 67th Street between 20th and 21st Avenues.
A police spokesperson said the driver of a blue van struck the children, and drove away. The Daily News reports that the driver parked the van more than a mile away and later returned to the scene on foot; a photo shows NYPD Collision Investigation Squad investigators inspecting a large blue van parked on Bay Parkway.
The four-year-old victim was pronounced dead at Maimonides Hospital, while the 6-year-old remains in critical condition.
The NYPD spokesperson could not provide the name of the 4-year-old.
A message left with Yeshiva Ketana of Bensonhurst has not yet been returned.
“Four days into 2021 and drivers have killed four New Yorkers on our streets, including one child. Three are dead in fatal hit-and-run crashes. Two children are injured," Danny Harris, the head of Transportation Alternatives, said in a statement. "Traffic fatalities rose last year, and this deadly trend seems to only be getting worse as Mayor de Blasio enters his final year in office.”
According to the most recent child fatality report issued by the city's Department of Health, traffic crashes are the top cause of injury-related death for New Yorkers aged 12 and younger; 80% are killed after being struck by a motor vehicle.
Last month, to help address the epidemic of speeding, reckless drivers, the de Blasio administration said it would lobby the state legislature to allow the city's speed cameras to stay on 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Currently, state law only allows the cameras to be on from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays. The cameras must be located in 750 designated school zones, issuing $50 fines to drivers who travel more than 10 mph above the speed limit.
Last year, the 950 cameras located in those zones have so far logged more than 4 million fines, roughly double 2019's tally.
The Department of Transportation has not yet responded to a request for comment.
“Mayor de Blasio has talked about Vision Zero since the start of his administration seven years ago. Despite this talk and some important changes, more New Yorkers continue to die on our streets in preventable crashes," Amy Cohen, the co-founder of Families for Safe Streets, said in a statement. "The time is now for Mayor de Blasio to turn talk into action, learn from past crashes, and make life saving changes to our streets that will prevent more tragedies across the five boroughs.”
Tagged
vision zero
pedestrian fatalities
bensonhurst
Christopher Robbins
Christopher Robbins is a New York City reporter covering transportation, affordable housing, local politics, and criminal justice. His work has also appeared in New York Magazine, The Village Voice and The New York Times. Chris is a graduate of Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, Virginia, and enjoys biking to Fort Tilden in the summertime.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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