This column, from the weekly opinion piece MATTER OF FACT, first appeared on BrooklynReporter.com, the Home Reporter and Spectator dated March 31, 2023
This is yet another edition of this column focused on the issue I have covered more than any other. And, once again, I am so tired of writing this column, this particular column about the needless loss of life on our neighborhood streets due to traffic violence.
The number of fatalities in Southern Brooklyn from unsafe driving lately has been hard to process. In a span of three days, three people were killed in Bensonhurst within a mile of each other. Going back just two weeks before that, there was a fatality in a Coney Island crosswalk.
Surveillance camera footage of the wreck caused by a reckless driver on 18th Avenue at 64th Street on Monday, March 20 was horrific. Video captured four blocks before, showed the vehicle speeding through a red light at the 60th Street intersection, narrowly missing several vehicles that were proceeding through the busy, intersecting two-way street. Being that the series of traffic in those four blocks change in unison, it is likely he sped through five red lights from 60th Street until he slammed into a black SUV, leading to two deaths.
I live nearby and visited the scene shortly after the wreck. It was a solemn scene. Two vehicles left in a twisted mess. A toppled lamppost uprooted from the sidewalk. A lone shoe lying in the street near a walking cane.
Stancho Stanchev, the driver of the black SUV, was killed. His wife was taken to the hospital with injuries. Colleagues from Ben Bay Realty established a GoFundMe, with all proceeds going to Stancho’s son to help the family through this impossibly difficult time. The fundraiser can be found by searching “Stancho” at GoFundMe.com.
Yuet Leung, 60, was fatally struck in the crosswalk. Known as Betty to those close to her, she was a beloved wife, mother & grandmother. A fundraiser to assist Betty’s family can be found at GoFundMe.com by searching “Yuet Leung,” where Betty and her family are described as people who “have always gone above and beyond for their family, friends, and strangers.”
Stancho and his wife, and Betty were out doing the ordinary things we all do in our everyday lives. Their families should not have had to plan their funerals this past week. The unlicensed driver was arrested, with photos showing him looking eerily calm after the crash. After having sped through multiple red lights, had his vehicle not been completely recked, it is likely he would have sped off.
Two days later, just eight blocks away on Dahill Road, another unlicensed, dangerous driver did just that, in a hit-and-run that killed Elizabeth Perez, 60. Police found and arrested the unlicensed driver nearby a short time later. The NYPD said the driver had crossed over the double yellow lines into the oncoming traffic lane and that Perez was not within a designated crosswalk when the incident occurred.
The thing is, for crossing Dahill Road near 63rd Street, there is no crosswalk. There are curbcuts and ADA ramps on either side that face each other, indicating it is a place for pedestrians to cross, but no crosswalk, no stop sign, no traffic signal, nothing at all. In fact, the nearest crosswalks to cross Dahill Road near 63rd Street are either at 65th Street or 24th Ave, both multiple blocks away.
It is unclear whether the driver was speeding, but the intersection is an example of terrible road safety design, with drivers turning off the Ave O intersection that is slightly offset from the 63rd Street intersection, and no traffic lights for several blocks. I pass this area on foot almost daily and this stretch often resembles a drag strip.
Liz Perez had cared for her partner, Peter, until he passed away in 2018, and lived with her daughter Gladys, who was recently diagnosed with partial blindness and other health issues. Her co-workers from the Dollar General store where she worked, spoke glowingly of how she took care of her daughter and how great she was to them. Searching “Funeral for Elizabeth Perez” at GoFundMe.com will direct you to a fundraiser started by her family.
Tamika Richards, 41, was killed by a hit-and-run driver in Coney Island on March 6 while walking with the right of way in a designated crosswalk. The single mother of six was a member of the P.S. 288 school community and was a block from the school when she was struck, though she first jumped in front of her 18-year-old son, who survived. Tamika was a hero that day, but she should still be here today. Her family spoke of what an amazing mother she was and cannot comprehend how someone hit her and just drove off. Searching “Tamika Richards” at GoFundMe.com will direct you to the fundraiser that will support her children.
We do not need to live like this. We cannot accept that just needing to get to the sidewalk on the other side of the street could be fatal. We must do better.
